


Fear and Memories

by wayward_stranger



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Love at First Sight, M/M, Memories, Nightmares, Phobias, Reincarnation, Soulmate AU, Volleyball, completed work, implied daisuga, slight tsukkiyama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-06-17
Packaged: 2018-05-30 12:26:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 46,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6423979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wayward_stranger/pseuds/wayward_stranger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Soulmate AU wherein two souls are destined to fall in love again even after they are reincarnated. One person has a phobia that is related to the struggles in their past life while the other person gets the memories of their past life in their dreams. When they meet each other, the person's phobia worsens while the other person starts getting the memories. They all stop once they finally kiss.</p>
<p>Hinata had always been afraid of the dark but also wondered who his own soulmate might be. After starting high school his fear worsens but he doesn't know who's causing it. </p>
<p>Kageyama had to live with his dysfunctional parents all his life. He hopes to never find his soulmate at all until he suddenly meets an orange-haired spiker and the memories start.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is my first fanfiction here and also the first fanfiction I've actually posted. Sorry if the summary is a bit confusing but it will all be clearer in the story (I hope >-

**Hinata**

 

The darkness. That’s what scared Hinata Shouyo that most. Which was pretty ironic considering the fact that his last name was spelled with the kanji character for ‘sun.’ But that was his phobia ever since he was a child. Whenever he slept, he had to at least have two lamps turned on. His parents also remembered to keep the lights in the hallway on just in case he needed to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. He almost never went to slumber parties or camping trips, which his friends thankfully understood. Whenever he went out, he always carried a flashlight in his bag. And a penlight in his pocket. It wasn’t so bad, at least not yet. Hinata was fine as long as he wasn’t alone and in total darkness. Going to movies with friends and families was alright with him as long as the movie wasn’t scary. But he knew that it was going to get worse. Once he meets his soulmate his phobia will almost immediately worsen. He didn’t know how much it would worsen but he imagined that he won’t be able to walk home alone in the dark. His parents were soulmates as well. His mother had the phobia while his father had the past memories. Stories about how they met during college often came up during dinnertime and Hinata would remember every single detail. His mother was claustrophobic and she met Hinata’s father in a restaurant after almost spilling coffee on him. After that encounter, his father had dreams that were flashes of his previous life with his destined soulmate while his mother became too scared to even go into an elevator by herself. Eventually, they realized that they were each other’s soulmates and after their first kiss, the memories and phobia disappeared. Hinata usually liked to imagine who his soulmate was and when he would meet him or her. The idea of being destined to fall in love with a particular person from the start fascinated him. Not to mention the fact that they also fell in love with each other in their past lives and that when Hinata eventually died, his soul will be reincarnated again and will fall in love with the reincarnated version of his soulmate. It hurt his head a lot to think about it and sometimes he’d feel confused or even worried about the whole soulmate-finding thing. But whenever he saw his parents together, he felt hopeful and happy about the fact that in his world, there was a person for everyone.

...

 

**Kageyama**

 

The memories. The thing that has yet to come. Kageyama was soon entering his freshman year at Karasuno High School. He knew that high school was where soulmates usually met each other. They would start soon. To be honest, Kageyama still didn’t know how he would react once he finds his soulmate and the memories come. Would he fall in love with his soulmate right away? Would it take a long time for the two of them to get together? Would the memories of his past life be happy? Would they be sad? Kageyama hardly knew his parents. They were almost always busy at work and he was left at home alone at a very young age. Because of that, he began to amuse himself with volleyball. His skills began to shine in middle school and he became known as a volleyball genius. None of his parents showed up at any of his games, not that he cared. Making that perfect toss and winning the game was all that mattered to him. He practiced long and hard but in the end, it wasn’t good enough for him to make it to Shiratorizawa. One of the very few things that he actually knew about his parents was how they met and ended up together. They weren’t each other’s soulmates. That was for sure. His mother was supposed to carry the memories but since she never met her own soulmate, they never came to her. His father had a fear of heights. Unlike Kageyama’s mother, he ended up meeting his soulmate but she died in an accident shortly after their encounter and his father’s fear only worsened. He knew how they ended up together but the real question was why. Most of the time, he thought about what would have happened if he was raised by parents who were each other’s soulmates. If he never had to see his own father staring sadly into space or hyperventilating when looking out a window on a floor a few stories above the ground. If he never had to see the blank gaze in his mother’s eyes and her attempts in consoling his father. When Kageyama looked at his own parents, it reminded him of a puzzle piece forcibly joined to another piece that didn’t fit. Kageyama hated it. The idea of having a soulmate. Someone who you were destined to be with for the rest of your life, and the life after it, and the life after that. He didn’t like the idea of his life being written out from the start and being forced to fall in love with someone. High school was definitely going to be a challenge for him. After all, that’s the time where most soulmates meet each other. If he saw his, would he feel a tug on his heart? Will he suddenly feel as if his world has changed? Or will he just feel nothing?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short flashback to Hinata's middle school years and seeing the Little Giant play for the first time. Then he meets Kageyama and the rest of the Karasuno volleyball team.

**Chapter 1**

**Hinata**

Ever since he graduated from middle school, Hinata had been counting the days of summer vacation he had left until he would finally start school in Karasuno. He had idolized the Little Giant for the longest time and would often replay the memory of when he first watched him in a match on TV. The way he ran as quickly as lightning to the net to do a quick. The way he jumped to do a serve until he was soaring above the net. His outstretched arms that looked like the wings of a bird. It was as if he was really, truly flying.

“I’m going to be like that someday!!” Hinata yelled out after seeing the Little Giant win the match with his famous quick.

“Sit down Nii-chan. You’re blocking the TV,” his younger sister Natsu whined. Hinata ignored her by continuing to jump around excitedly.

“I’m going to start a volleyball club and get better at volleyball then I’m going to Karasuno and learn how to do a super cool quick and do awesome spikes that are like ‘Whapow!’ and ‘Bam!’ and ‘Gyah!’” Hinata exclaimed excitedly.

“Whatever Nii-chan. I’m going to my room. You’re too loud,” Natsu huffed as she went back upstairs. But Hinata didn’t take notice of her. He was too busy grinning and watching the TV as the Karasuno team members smiled and hugged each other.

“I want that too…” he said to himself. He hadn’t joined any sports clubs at all back then but he always imagined what it would be like to be a part of one. To have a bunch of caring and supportive teammates who were there for you if you did good or not. To be able to cooperate in scoring a point with someone. Going to fun training camps and practice matches together. To be able to win a match together as a team and the feeling of relishing in their victory. Basically the feeling of being a part of _something._ That was what Hinata wanted.

It took a long time for him to train himself on volleyball skills and techniques. But it took even longer for him to actually form a team in order to compete in a match. He entered the game positive and excited to win only to be bitterly defeated by the opposing team who, Hinata had to admit, had far stronger team members than his team. But that didn’t stop him from trying to receive every ball that came to their side of the court and jumping to block the opposing team’s spikes. He gave his all during that match and even though he ended up losing, he couldn’t deny that those few minutes in the game were probably one of the best few minutes in his life.

He only managed to make one spike during the whole 2 sets. It was a very hasty toss from one of his team members but Hinata jumped nonetheless. The blockers were completely surprised and had jumped too late. It was the perfect opportunity. He eyed the ball in front of him and aimed for the unguarded spot in the court. He closed his eyes and hit the ball with all his might. He only opened his eyes once he landed and heard the sound of the volleyball hitting the floor of the gymnasium. That was one memory he’ll never forget. The view from the top. The feeling of the ball in his hands. He wanted to feel it again.

‘And now I will!’ he thought excitedly as he ran to the gym where volleyball practice was being held. A million thoughts ran through his head. ‘I wonder who the team captain is gonna be! He must be pretty cool and maybe a bit scary. Their team must have an ace too! He’s probably really tall and moody and everything but his spikes would probably be amazing. I hope the setter’s pretty good too. I have to be friends with him if he’s going to be the one to toss to me.’

The gym loomed nearer and nearer and Hinata felt his own heart pounding as he sprang forward and threw open the door. “Good mor-“ he began but the rest of the greeting was caught in his throat once he saw who was there. A tall, black-haired boy who immediately introduced himself as Kageyama Tobio. The famous setter. The King of the Court.

‘This is going to turn out unexpectedly.’

…

Hinata didn’t know what scared him most when he met Kageyama Tobio. The fact that he was known as the ‘King of the Court’ and a fearsome setter back in middle school. Or the fact that there were goosebumps along his arms and a feeling of dread in the back of his mind when he met him. Even though he had never actually seen him in real life or watched any of his matches, his name and description were pretty famous among middle school volleyball teams.

The guy was pretty tall and towered over Hinata. And if that didn’t make him intimidating enough, there were those piercing, dark blue eyes and cold facial expression. ‘I probably won’t get along with this guy,’ was Hinata’s second thought once he met him. The first was ‘S-so t-tall… and scary…’ He walked into the gym, trying not to stare at the famous setter too much. He noticed that the other teammates haven’t arrived and he prayed for them to enter the gym soon.

“Hey!” Kageyama spoke suddenly. Hinata jumped slightly and turned to face him.

“Y-yes?” he answered, trying not to shake too visibly.

“You’re new here too, right?” he asked.

 “Y-yeah,” he nodded. Hinata couldn’t ignore the fact that he spoke in a rough and straightforward manner. ‘I guess that’s to be expected of a famous player…’ Hinata thought. Kageyama looked him up and down with an eyebrow slightly raised. ‘This is unnerving. He’s really scary up close…’ Hinata shivered. ‘He’s gonna say something about my height. He’s gonna say something about my height…’ he thought. That was the first thing people did whenever he told them that he was playing volleyball.

“A short volleyball player, huh?” Kageyama said as he returned to practicing his serves.

‘I knew it!’ Hinata thought irritably. “I may be short, but I can jump high too!”

“So you’re aiming to become a wing spiker, huh?” the taller boy guessed. Hinata could see the smirk playing on his lips which irritated him further. ‘He’s making fun of me!’

“And you’re the King of the Court, right?” he asked back. Kageyama, who was about to do a jump serve, stopped midway. Hinata noticed how his grip on the ball tightened while his left eyebrow twitched. Even he could tell that he might have pissed the guy off. He immediately regretted bringing it up. Luckily, his meeting with Kageyama was interrupted by the other teammates entering the gym.

“Wow. The new first-years came in earlier than us,” someone exclaimed. He had dark, cropped hair, tan skin, and a strong build. Hinata jumped slightly and stood beside the entrance once he saw the rest of the Karasuno team members standing outside.

“There are four of them this year too. Our numbers sure have improved,” said a boy who was slightly shorter than the other one. He also had pretty pale skin and silvery hair. Hinata felt a warm, inviting aura from this one and immediately decided that he liked him. The boy turned to him and gave a warm smile.

“I’m Sugawara Koushi. It’s nice to meet you,” he said.

“Ah! Hinata Shouyo! It’s nice to meet you too!” Hinata said loudly and bowed down.

“Whoa! This one sure seems to have a lot of energy.” Hinata looked up to see someone standing next to Sugawara staring down at him with an amused expression. He had a shaved head and his face was sort of scary and intimidating. The scary bald guy loomed over him and looked him up and down. Hinata felt like hiding in Sugawara’s jacket.

“He’s pretty small isn’t he?” the bald guy said just as two other teammates walked over together. One of them was a guy with spiky brown hair except for a small, blonde section and was, to Hinata’s delight and amazement, slightly shorter than he was. The other one towered over all of the boys around Hinata. He looked like a thirty year-old with his long hair and the slight stubble on his chin. The latter placed a hand on Tanaka’s shoulder as if to hold him back.

“Hey, hey Tanaka. I think you’re scaring the guy,” he said. Hinata was slightly surprised at the sound of his voice since he was expecting more of a gruff, booming voice. He was even more surprised when he flashed a smile at him that was almost as warm as Sugawara’s.

“G-good afternoon, senpai!” Hinata stuttered out once he regained his voice.

“Senpai? Well, this guy has some manners,” the bald guy grinned and began to thump the shorter boy on the back. “Sorry about that! I guess I was just pretty excited about the new recruits,” he laughed.

“You do come off as scary most of the time, Tanaka-san,” Sugawara smiled good-naturedly before turning to Hinata and providing introductions. “This one’s Tanaka Ryunosuke, by the way. He’s always pumped up and motivated so you better get used to him shouting all the time. The tall one’s Azumane Asahi. We all call him Asahi and he’s our ace since he gives the best spikes.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Asahi said. Hinata looked up at him in a mixture of awe and jealousy. ‘Whoa… an ace… And he’s so tall,’ he thought. Sugawara nodded and returned to the introductions, this time gesturing to the shorter boy.

“And the last one here is-“

“Nishinoya Yuu!” he exclaimed with a grin. “Everyone calls me Noya. I’m the team’s libero!”

“He’s the best one there is!” Tanaka said as he and Nishinoya high-fived each other. The others nodded in agreement.

“My best move is called the ‘Rolling Thunder’” he said before providing a demonstration right in front of all of them.

“S-so cool!!!” Hinata yelled out excitedly. Nishinoya grinned and flashed him a thumbs-up.

“What position are you playing? You better not be trying to take mine.”

“I-I’m going to be a spiker!”

“A spiker, huh?” Sugawara mused. “Let me guess, you came here because you’re a fan of the Little Giant, right?”

“Yeah! I may be short, but I can jump high!” Hinata exclaimed. Tanaka laughed and thumped him harder on the back.

“That’s the spirit! Man, I really like this guy!” he laughed. Hinata pitched forward slightly from the force but he smiled nonetheless at the older team member. He had a feeling that he was going to like this guy and Nishinoya as well.

“Well if you’re gonna be the spiker then I got your back! You can count on me to cover for you!” Nishinoya grinned.

“Uh, guys? Sorry to interrupt but I think Daichi-san is calling us over,” Asahi said.

“I guess we’re having a team meeting. Let’s go, Hinata,” Sugawara said as he started walking over to where the rest of the team was sitting. The guy who first came into the gym appeared to be the team captain called Daichi. Hinata followed behind Sugawara and the five of them made their way to the team circle. Besides them, Daichi, and Kageyama, there were 5 other members seated on the floor. There were 3 other people standing behind Daichi, two of which Hinata guessed were the coach and teacher advisor. The other one was a really beautiful girl who was probably the manager. He caught Tanaka and Nishinoya staring at her.

“Alright, everyone! It’s the start of a new school year and that means we’ll be training for another tournament. We weren’t able to make our way past the preliminaries last year and as most of you may have noticed, people have given us the nickname ‘The Flightless Crows.’”

“But we’ll prove them wrong this year, right Daichi-san?” Nishinoya said. There were murmurs of agreement and a “Hell yeah!” from Tanaka. Hinata guessed that Nishinoya was probably one of the main ‘morale-boosters’ in the team. ‘So cool!’ he thought.

“That’s right!” Daichi nodded in agreement. “We’ll put together a good, strong team and prove to them that this crow’s still got some flight left.”

“Yeah! Let’s all go up against Shiratorizawa!” Tanaka cheered. The rest of the team cheered in agreement. Hinata joined in but out of the corner of his eye he noticed Kageyama flinch slightly at the mention of the name.

“Alright! Now I’m pumped!” Tanaka yelled as he stood up and began taking his shirt off to twirl in the air. Both Hinata and Kageyama were startled by the sudden action but the rest of the team, except for two others who appeared to be taken aback as well, seemed to be used to it.

“That’s what I’m talking about Tanaka! Let’s get right to practice right now!” Nishinoya joined in, standing up.

“You got it, Noya!”

“Tanaka. Noya-san. Please sit down. Daichi-san isn’t done talking yet,” Asahi spoke up in an attempt to get them to calm down. However, both of them ignored Asahi and continued to high-five each other, which Hinata desperately wanted to join.

“Asahi’s right. You don’t want to get Daichi-san mad,” Sugawara chimed in. Tanaka and Nishinoya’s cheering came to an abrupt stop and they looked back at Daichi who was patiently waiting for them. Without another word, the Tanaka put his shirt back on and the two sat back down. ‘Is he really that scary when he’s mad?’ Hinata thought, slightly glad that he didn’t have to see that side of Daichi at the moment. But besides that, the team seemed to really respect him so Hinata guessed that he must be a pretty good team leader to get that much respect.

“Anyway. We have four new members this year so we’ll start introductions first. I’m Sawamura Daichi, a third year and also the team captain,” Daichi continued.

“We all call him Daichi-san,” Nishinoya piped up.

“I’m Sugawara Koushi,” said Sugawara as he stood up to bow. “Also a third year and the team’s setter as well.”

“I’m Nishinoya Yuu, but you can all call me Noya!” Nishinoya exclaimed. “I’m the team’s libero. The scary-looking guy with the long hair over there’s Asahi. He’s our ace,” he said, pointing at the taller male.

“Thanks for introducing me, Noya,” he said with a sigh. He seemed to be really used to the younger boy’s hyperactive behavior. “I’m a third year as well.”

“I guess I’m next,” Tanaka said, standing up. He pointed at himself with his thumb and grinned. “The name’s Tanaka Ryunosuke. My close friends can call me Ryu but you can also call me Tanaka-senpai if you want.” He flashed a smile at Hinata which he returned. The last three simply introduced themselves as Ennoshita Chikara, Kazuhito Narita, and Hisashi Kinoshita. Finally, it was the underclassmen’s turn. There were 2 other underclassmen besides Hinata and Kageyama. A tall, blond-haired guy with spectacles and a bored expression on his face. Beside him was a shorter boy but with tan skin, brown hair, and freckles scattered across his face.

“Tsukishima Kei,” the blond guy introduced plainly. “Nice to meet you,” he said with a slight bow.

“And I’m Yamaguchi Tadashi,” the shorter one grinned. “It’s nice to meet you.” Compared to his taller friend, Yamaguchi seemed to be friendlier. Hinata stole a glance at the guy who called himself Tsukishima. The bored expression on his face sort of irritated him. But his thoughts were interrupted by Kageyama introducing himself next.

“I’m Kageyama Tobio,” he greeted.

“Kageyama? As in the famous setter from Kitagawa Daiichi?” Sugawara said.

“The King of the Court?” Nishinoya added.

“Y-yeah…” Kageyama muttered, looking down with a slightly annoyed expression.

“Well, it looks like we have some interesting first years this year,” Daichi said cheerfully before turning to Hinata. “Now for you.”

“H-Hinata Shouyo!” Hinata yelled and bowed down low. “It’s nice to meet you all!”

“Well, I guess now introductions are over. We’ll be beginning practice tomorrow afternoon. But for now, we’re dismissed.”

“Alright! Let’s practice with all our might tomorrow Noya!!” Tanaka said, immediately standing up.

“Right on!” Nishinoya cheered. Daichi just sighed and started to collect his stuff with Sugawara accompanying him. Hinata stood up as well and was about to exit the gym when Daichi called out one final reminder.

“I almost forgot! Please be ready with your jersey numbers tomorrow!” he called out. Hinata froze in his tracks once he heard him say ‘jersey number.’ The image of the Little Giant’s Karasuno jersey with the number 10 on it flashed through his mind. ‘A jersey number! I’m getting a jersey number!’ he mentally cheered. He ended up sprinting all the way home.

…

It wasn’t very dark outside when Hinata came home so he didn’t realize it on the way home. The lights inside were also brightly lit all the time so he didn’t realize it then either. That along with the excitement for his soon-to-be jersey number and the thrill of meeting his new, awesome (most of them anyway), teammates kept him high in cloud nine.

That was until he had to go back into his room after a bath. He was wearing his favorite orange pajama bottoms and white t-shirt. A towel was around his neck to catch the falling drips of water from his still-damp hair. He was cheerfully humming as he walked down the hallway before finally reaching his door and twisting the knob to open it only to be greeted with the darkness of his room.

It had happened many times before. Hinata usually forgot that the lights in his room were turned off only for him to enter in the evening with his room completely dark. During these times he would just quickly flip on the switch that was conveniently placed near the doorway and breathe a sigh of relief. But this time was different.

Hinata stood frozen in front of the doorway. The darkness looked much different this time. It completely concealed everything and removed the traces of his room. It just looked like black emptiness. Hinata willed himself to reach his hand out for the switch but his arm stayed shaking at his side. His breaths were short and forced; he started gasping for air. ‘W-why? Why? Why?’ His mind raced. ‘Why is it so scary now? Why can’t I move?’

Finally, he was able to move his arm. He tentatively reached into the darkness of his room where he knew the switch was going to be. The arm that was shaking just a while ago was shaking much more. Hinata shut his eyes as he started hyperventilating even more. He felt around the wall frantically for the light switch. “Where? Where is it?” he panicked. He opened his eyes and felt the shaking go down to his knees. His hyperventilation was much more.

“The light switch. The light switch,” he gasped in between breaths. Hinata sank to his knees but his hand continued feeling the wall for the light switch. “Where’s the light switch? Where’s the light switch? Why is it not here? It’s always right _here!_ ” His eyes started to fill up with tears as he curled up into a ball, his hand still searching for the light switch. The noise he was making finally got the attention of his sister Natsu who was only in the room next door.

“Nii-chan, what’s happening?” she groaned as she walked out of her room. Once she saw her brother curled up and shaking by his dark room she immediately stopped in her tracks. “Nii-chan? Nii-chan what’s wrong!”

She ran immediately to the shivering Hinata. “What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” she cried.

“Th-the light switch. Where’s the light switch?” he babbled. Natsu immediately guessed that her brother’s phobia was the reason behind his current behavior. Tears sprang to her eyes. “Hold on. I’ve got it,” she said and immediately turned on the light. She turned back and knelt in front of him.

“I turned it on. Don’t worry, don’t be scared now,” she said while running her hands comfortingly through his hair. Hinata slowly looked back at his room and was greeted with a warm glow of light.

“I-it’s on!” he cheered. He stood up slowly, using a hand to brace himself against the wall. His legs were still shaking but it was much less than before. But then the realization dawned on him. He had never reacted like this before when he was faced with a dark room, especially his room. ‘It can’t be…’ he thought.

“Nii-chan, are you okay?” Natsu asked. Her face had a worried expression on it and there were still tears in her eyes.

“Natsu…” Hinata sighed. He knelt down and pulled his little sister in a hug. “I’m sorry for worrying you. Thanks for helping me out though…”

“What happened? You never did that before.” Hinata looked back at his room. He had two lamps, one near his bed and one near his closet a little farther from the bed. Usually he only kept the one near the closet on. ‘I guess I’ll be sleeping with both of them on for quite some time,’ he thought.

“Natsu…” he began. He swallowed and stood up. “I think I found my soulmate.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first official chapter! Hope you all like it! If you have suggestions/feedback please let me know in the comments~


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama realizes that his teammates may no longer want to spike his tosses even with their final match drawing near. After staying behind to watch a volleyball game he meets an extraordinary spiker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chronologically, this chapter is supposed to go before the first one but I just wrote it this way...

**Kageyama**

Kageyama didn’t think that he would find his soulmate so soon, or so easily. He wasn’t even supposed to be in that particular place at that particular time. Coupled with the fact that they would both end up in the same high school justified the fact that fate was probably fucking with him. The boy who grew up with parents who weren’t each other’s soulmates found his own at a very young age. That’s right. Fate was fucking with him.

Kageyama had a volleyball match at that time and his team, Kitagawa Daiichi, had just finished the game. They won two sets against the opposing team who only managed to win one, but he was still in a foul and tense mood. Back at the court, hardly anybody could keep up with his own tosses and the ball ended up falling uselessly to the ground without anyone to spike it. Kageyama lashed out at his own teammates who apologized but ended up whispering behind his back. The last set was a close one, but Kageyama’s team managed to pull through despite the lost points. Thank God for that.

The team was happy that they managed to win the match, but the locker room was not as loud as it should have been. Some of his teammates high-fived each other and bumped fists. There were exchanges of ‘Good game!’ ‘Congratulations’ and ‘You did great there!’ But there was tension underneath all the celebration and no one came near Kageyama.

His own stomach was in knots. As soon as everyone left he slid down to sit on the cement floor with his back against the cold metal of the lockers. His left hand gripped his volleyball team’s jersey which he had already removed while his right hand was clenched at his side. Kageyama remembered the look some of his teammates had given him when he yelled at them. How they whispered or nudged each other when they thought he wasn’t looking. He always knew that they didn’t like him very well and he honestly didn’t mind about that. But no matter how much they hated him, they always spiked his tosses, or at least tried to.

A feeling of dread came over Kageyama. What would happen if they would no longer spike his tosses? Surely they understood the need for them to win, but what if they just lost the drive? What if it was all because of him? ‘Am I doing anything wrong?’ Kageyama asked himself as he clenched his fists tighter. ‘I’ve been doing my tosses correctly, haven’t I? I’ve been trying to help the team out, haven’t I?’ he thought.

 _‘You’re tossing it too fast, Kageyama. Even though you’re the King of the Court, you shouldn’t expect everyone to do the impossible for you.’_ The words of his teammate Kindaichi Yutaro echoed through his ears. “Damn it!” he cried and hit the lockers beside him with his left fist. ‘It’s their fault,’ he told himself. ‘They’re the ones who can’t spike my tosses. It’s their fault that our team’s losing points.’

Kageyama stood up and crammed his volleyball uniform into his black duffel bag before pulling out a clean, dark blue shirt. He yanked it over his head before putting on the Kitagawa Daiichi jacket over it. He’d avoid wearing it if he could but at the moment he didn’t have another jacket. He shouldered his bag before finally exiting the locker room.

Outside, the court was being used for another match which appeared to have started already. The two teams playing against each other were Aoyama Junior High, a team that Kageyama knew for having an amazing defense system, and Yukigaoka Junior High, a team that he didn’t even know existed. In fact, all of the players in the latter team seemed to share the same pensive expression on their faces. Judging from his lack of knowledge about the team, the players’ facial expressions and the 10 point lead that Aoyama Junior High had, Kageyama could tell that this was Yukigaoka’s first official match.  

‘They’re screwed,’ he immediately thought as he turned away. ‘It’s useless to watch a match with a predicted ending.’ Just as he started walking towards the stairs, something quick flashed from the corner of his eye. Kageyama immediately swiveled his head back to the match to see one of Yukigaoka’s players dashing to receive a ball that was clearly heading outside of the court. The player was short with wild, orange hair sticking out of his head. As he was running, he crashed into one of the benches on the side of the court but still ended up keeping the ball in the air. One of his teammates tried to spike it over the net but was immediately shut down by Aoyama’s defense.

‘Damn. What a waste of a good receive,’ Kageyama thought. Yukigaoka’s team was pretty terrible, but the orange-haired player seemed to be different from the rest of them. Kageyama eyed one of the empty chairs that overlooked the court and decided to sit down and watch the rest of the game. His teammates had probably left already and his parents certainly weren’t waiting for him at home. And besides, the orange-haired player captured his interest.

…

Kageyama continued to watch the exchange between the two teams. Aoyama had already won its first set and were well on their way to winning the next one. But it seemed that Kageyama, the audience, and even the players on Aoyama hadn’t expected a performance from one of the players from Yukigaoka Junior High. Despite the steady defense of Aoyama, the orange-haired player refused to back down against them despite the poor performance from his other team members. He chased after the ball no matter where it went, desperately trying to keep it in the air.

Kageyama felt frustration build up inside him as he watched the game unfold. Reflexes, speed, strength. The player’s skills were far greater than his fellow teammates. In fact, Kageyama even thought that his skills would be on par with some of his teammates with Kitagawa Daiichi. ‘So why is he in _that_ team?’ he thought furiously as he watched the orange-haired player dash to receive another ball. ‘What has he been doing all these years?’

But something more added to his surprise. It must have taken under 5 seconds for it to actually happened but Kageyama felt as if it was all slowed down to only a few frames per second. The orange-haired player had received another ball after dashing to the back of the court and it travelled to what appeared to be the team’s setter. From behind the court, the player sprinted towards the net just as the setter caught the ball in his hands. The orange-haired player clearly made up for his lack of height with the way he jumped. He stretched out his arms in front of him as the setter tossed him the ball and slammed it over the net.

Some would say that it was a lucky spike, but Kageyama knew that one did not simply get through Aoyama’s defense. And the way that the player did it seemed like he had been working on it for months. The opposing team stood in stunned silence as well as the players on Yukigaoka. Kageyama wished he could see the expression on the spiker’s face but judging from the way he stood as still as a statue while the rest of the team celebrated implied the fact that he was the one who was surprised the most. Kageyama felt a smirk dance on his lips. It was a magnificent quick. But Yukigaoka still lost in the end.

 …

His parents weren’t there when he got home, like always. His mother was a doctor who usually worked long hours even during the weekend. His father was a magazine editor and occasionally preferred to stay in the office then at his own home with his family. Because of his parents’ high earning jobs, the family had a lot of money and could afford to stay in a pretty big house. It had two stories but his father usually did his business on the ground floor and rarely went upstairs. Their house had a modern style with the kitchen, dining room, living room, bathroom, and his father’s room on the first floor. Upstairs was his mother’s room, Tobio’s own room that had a bathroom connected to it, a guest room, and another bathroom. The large house was almost always empty and Kageyama often wondered if he would feel less lonely if their house was smaller.

He headed straight to his room once he got home and immediately let himself fall onto his own bed. It was a really long day for him and his body was extremely tired. Kageyama disliked the silence of the house so he usually played music on his small phone speaker whenever he was alone. He raised himself slightly off the bed to choose some music to play on his phone before plugging it into the speaker. The music filled up the room and Kageyama laid back down on his bed; shutting his eyes to take a long nap.

…

It was already 7:00 pm when he woke up. Kageyama rubbed his eyes and groaned as he read the time on his phone. He overslept again. ‘Looks like I won’t be getting any sleep tonight either,’ he thought as he got off his bed and made his way down the kitchen, turning on the lights in the hallways and living room as he went. His dad usually came home at around 10 pm while his mom came at 12 am. On good days they would come home at 7 or 8 and the three of them ate together as a family. But good days came pretty rarely and their dinner consisted of small talk and exchanges of ‘I’m fine’ and ‘Nothing much.’

Kageyama cooked his own dinner and set some of the food aside in the refrigerator for his parents to pack for lunch. After cleaning up and washing the dishes, he headed upstairs to take a long bath. The hot water in the tub eased his sore muscles and he sighed in satisfaction. He drew his knees to his chest and looked up at the ceiling as a multitude of thoughts ran through his head. The junior high tournament in their prefecture was ending soon and the next match was going to be their last. They had about a week to practice before it actually happened and the team had to get their act together.

‘We’re screwed if the rest of them are still stubborn,’ Kageyama said, clenching his fist angrily underwater. ‘But I’ll still have to toss as fast as I can. It’s all their fault for not moving quickly enough if they can’t spike it. It’s not my fault,’ he convinced himself. Hopefully, his performance in the next match and previous matches would impress Aoba Johsai, the high school he was hoping to be accepted in. He remembered the previous team’s setter, his senpai Oikawa Tooru. Aside from being the setter, he was also the captain who led the team to multiple victories. Now, he was the setter of Aoba Johsai’s volleyball team as well and Kageyama realized that he would have to work his way up the ranks there if he was going to be accepted.

Back when he was still in Kitagawa Daiichi, Kageyama felt that the setter had disliked him a lot. He was friendly at first, helping Kageyama out when he was practicing and teaching him some new moves as well. But then he began to ignore and even snap at him whenever he asked him for help. Eventually, he gave up asking Oikawa for help thinking that he was probably busy or under a lot of stress. But when he felt Oikawa’s piercing glare watching him during practice he began to feel that maybe the reason behind his anger ran deeper than that. Kageyama still held some sort of respect for him though and he often dreamed of being able to lead like he did. If only he didn’t hate his other teammates so much.

‘Just perfect your tosses and win the match,’ Kageyama told himself as he left the tub and toweled himself dry. Wrapping the towel around his waist, he walked into his room and changed into a white shirt and black pajama bottoms. It was already 9 pm but Kageyama knew he was going to stay up much later than that. He got his laptop from his desk and settled into his bed. Besides playing volleyball, Kageyama didn’t have a whole lot of other hobbies. He watched movies, preferably murder mysteries, and read manga. But other than those, he did nothing else. He didn’t even know why he got into volleyball in the first place.

All of the students there in Kitagawa Daiichi had to belong in at least one club. Kageyama knew that he was more into sports than other activities. He hated basketball. He couldn’t hit a ball with a bat for baseball. He didn’t like the people who were in the football team. He couldn’t swim so being on the swimming team was out. And the track team only had two people in it. So volleyball it was. But it wasn’t long until he began to enjoy it. The sound of his serve hitting the other court. The feeling of the ball in his hand as he spiked it. The thrill of jumping to successfully block a spike. He actually turned out to be pretty good at analyzing the other players’ movements which he used in training to become a setter. The long hours he spent practicing volleyball helped distract him from his non-existent family life at home.

After watching two movies and reading half of a manga novel, Kageyama was finally tired enough to fall asleep. Halfway through his first movie, he heard his father arrive home. Kageyama didn’t even bother to go downstairs and greet him. There was a little bustling around in the kitchen and the sound of the television being switched on for about an hour before it was all silent again. His mother arrived two hours after when Kageyama was watching his second movie. He only heard her footsteps as she walked right past his room, not bothering to check if her only child was there, and down the hallway to her own room. Kageyama was all too familiar with these sounds. The sounds of a disconnected family.

He bookmarked the chapter he had been reading and turned off the lamp over his bed. After twisting and turning in his bed, he finally settled into a comfortable position and pulled the blankets over his body. Before closing his heavy eyelids, he found his thoughts flying to the image of the orange-haired spiker he saw playing earlier. It had been in the back of his mind ever since he came home. He wondered where the spiker was planning to go to for high school and if he would ever have to face him in a match. ‘He’d make a pretty strong opponent if he had proper training and a not-so-shitty team,’ he thought. ‘Too bad I don’t know his name.’

…

Sometimes, Kageyama would run multiple different situations of what could have happened if he wasn’t there watching that match at that time. If he had chosen to leave as soon as he exited the locker instead of staying to watch the game. He knew that he would meet him at Karasuno for high school eventually but would he have realized that he was his soulmate on the same day he saw him? Would he have fallen for him in the same way that he had on that day?

The memories came to him almost as soon as he closed his eyes. Colorful and vivid paintings. A woman with blonde hair and a smile like the sun. A serenade in the dead of night. And then darkness with cries of sadness and anguish echoing in the background. Kageyama woke up with a start, his hands gripping the sheets around him and his back covered in sweat.

‘Was that… what I thought it was?’ he said to himself as he tried to slow his breathing down. He had weird dreams before and dreams that felt more real than others. But this one was different. It felt like he was being sucked and pulled forward into a whirling vortex of memories. He could only remember a few of them but he knew that he definitely saw more but he just couldn’t remember.

‘Then that means…’ he thought as he raked a hand through his tousled hair. Did he really just meet his soulmate? Kageyama let out a half-hearted chuckle as he fell back down on his pillow. He just met his soulmate, and he knew who it was. Throughout the day, he was only with his teammates and none of them could be his soulmate, he would have received his memories earlier then. It couldn’t be from the opposing team or from Aoyama either since Kageyama had already met some of them in previous matches before. Everyone else he might have passed by throughout the day was just another face that Kageyama didn’t even remember. There was only one possibility.

The orange-haired spiker. He was after all the one who captured his attention and made him stay to watch the match. Kageyama remembered how he moved around the court like a ball of pure energy. He was reckless. He was wild. He was stubborn. But when he spiked he looked like he was invincible and free. The feelings that Kageyama felt whenever he played volleyball all came out when he thought about that ridiculous spiker.

But he didn’t know his name and his face was too far to see from the audience. The only thing that Kageyama remembered was that he was short and had orange hair. He wasn’t even fully assured that he would see him again. And if he did, he wouldn’t know what to do. Kageyama closed his eyes and smiled grimly at the ceiling. It was going to end in flames for him.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama and Hinata's first meet-up but in Kageyama's perspective. Then some more insight in the Kageyama family with lots of crying and sadness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4th chapter! Thanks for all the hits, comments, and kudos so far~

**Hinata**

Hinata fell asleep with both of his lamps turned on and his door open to let the light from the hallway come in. Before that, both of his parents sat him down on his bed and gave him a ‘talk’ about his phobia and everything he was going to experience from that moment forward and how they were all going to help him through it as a family. Natsu volunteered to sleep in his bed with him to help him sleep but Hinata sent her off with a smile, promising that he’ll yell if he needed her instead.

Once everyone went off to bed, Hinata snuggled under the blankets of his bed and lay down facing up at the ceiling. The darkness in his room was more or less bearable and the curtains on his window were drawn shut. ‘How long will I have to bear with this?’ he wondered as he clutched his blankets tighter.

Hinata always knew that this day would come. He thought that he had prepared enough for it, that it probably wouldn’t be that bad. But the phobia was actually much, much worse. It felt as if all reason and sense were thrown out the window when he saw the darkness of his own room. He could hardly even remember anything from that moment but based on what Natsu said, he must have looked like a complete and total wreck. She said that he was even groping the bottom part of the wall for the light switch even though he knew perfectly well that it wasn’t there.

But another part of him felt somewhat excited at the new discovery. The fact that his phobia worsened only meant that he had already seen his soulmate. Hinata didn’t even think that it would happen so early either. Immediately, he tried to recall who he had seen that day for the first time. The only people that he could easily remember were his new teammates in the volleyball club. But it was a big school too, he could have seen someone new and easily forgotten how they looked like.

“Argh!! This is so frustrating!” Hinata groaned and buried his face in his pillow. But then he remembered an important piece of advice his mother had told him earlier. Soulmates were called soulmates for a reason. Whether it was in the past, present, or the future, soulmates were meant to be together. Hinata’s fear was proof of his bond with his own soulmate but it wasn’t the only bond.

_“You can always rely on your heart if you’re lost, Shouyo,”_ his mother said. _“After all, you are soulmates.”_ Hinata smiled at the comforting thought. He was only a freshman after all, and he still had a lot of time to find his own soulmate. But even though it could be anyone in his school, he had a feeling that he only needed to narrow it down to the volleyball club. And with that in mind, he fell asleep.

 

…

 

**Kageyama**

Just when he thought fate was done messing around with him, it completely fucks him up again. The orange-haired spiker, who turned out to be named Hinata Shouyo, went to Karasuno as well. It wasn’t surprising that he went to the volleyball club as well. But did he really have to be the first fucking team member who burst into the gym?

Kageyama didn’t even want to go to Karasuno High School in the first place either but he had no choice after Aoba Jousai denied him. His pride was severely wounded from it but he had no choice but to apply to another school. He’d heard of Karasuno before when the volleyball team was at its peak because of a player known as the Little Giant. But when he left, Karasuno stopped winning as many tournaments as it had before. In recent years, they haven’t even made it past Prefecturals earning them the nickname ‘The Flightless Crows.’ But Karasuno was also the closest place to his house and the school eagerly accepted Kageyama as well. He hated to admit it, but his grades weren’t that high.

The school didn’t seem that bad either. The teachers were okay. His classmates were okay. The lessons were okay. None of those mattered too much to Kageyama who eagerly waited for volleyball practice. There was no one in the gym when he came in and after changing into his gym clothes he decide to practice his jump serves while waiting. The smack of the ball against his palm and the thud that resonated in the gym afterward. The sounds were almost rhythmic and Kageyama found himself falling into place with them. And then it was all interrupted by the sound of the gym doors opening.

What he did was the very definition of ‘bursting in.’ He literally just threw open the doors and jumped forward with what was supposed to be a ‘Good morning’ even if it was already afternoon and the rest of the greeting didn’t even make it out of his mouth. But at that moment, Kageyama’s mind was too blank to notice those things. He was too focused by the guy’s bright, orange hair.

‘It’s him! It’s him!’ his brain mentally screamed. He could have dropped the volleyball he was holding in his hands. He could have pointed a shaking finger at the boy who entered. He could have at least said something at that moment too. But his body did a great job of appearing cool and indifferent while his mind ran around in an utter state of chaos. On the other hand, the person standing in front of him clearly seemed to be intimidated by Kageyama’s presence in the gym. After quite some time, the orange-haired spiker finally dropped his gaze and walked into the gym, trying not to make eye contact with Kageyama.

‘Did I… scare him too much?’ he instantly thought as he tried to relax his own facial expression. Fate was seriously fucking with him at the moment but he decided to leave all the cursing and swearing for later when he was alone. For now, he decided to take the chance to take a closer look at the spiker while he was looking away. Apart from his trademark orange hair and short height, he also had large brown eyes that shifted nervously around the gym. He had a small button nose and a mouth that quirked and twitched. His small hands tapped nervously against the wall behind him.

‘Jeez, he’s like a scared little rabbit…” Kageyama thought, even though he couldn’t deny the fact that he found all those mannerisms to be quite cute. He felt his own face heat up and he gripped the ball in his hands even tighter. ‘Damn it! Stop looking at him Tobio!’ he mentally yelled. He managed not to for 10 whole seconds until he looked up again to see the spiker staring at him and then quickly moving his eyes away.

Finally, Kageyama decided to at least say something in hopes of making the situation less awkward. Unfortunately, the thing that came out of his mouth was a loud “Hey!” that made the short spiker jump in surprise.

“Y-yes?” he replied.

“You’re new here too, right?” he asked in a softer tone.

“Y-yeah.” The shorter boy was shaking like a leaf. Kageyama raised an eyebrow at him. ‘Is he even aware that he’s shaking?’ he wondered. The boy in front of him seemed different from the confident player he saw on that day. Kageyama smiled slightly when he realized that there was a chance he’d see that amazing spike again.

“A short volleyball player, huh?” he said as he turned back to his serves.

“I may be short, but I can jump high too!”

‘I know,’ Kageyama said to himself. He was pleased to notice that he didn’t stammer when saying those words and instead stood up straight with his hands at his sides. The confidence in his eyes made him resemble the player he had seen in the match with Aoyama.

“So you’re aiming to become a wing spiker, huh?” Kageyama said. ‘That means I’ll be tossing to you,’ he thought, as he began to get in position for another jump serve.

“And you’re the King of the Court, right?”

Kageyama froze in the middle of his serve. He gripped the ball tightly in his hands, pissed at the idea that the boy had heard about him. ‘How much does he know exactly?’ he thought as his mind flashed back to the tosses he made in their last match that were never spiked. He definitely didn’t want that to happen again in a new team. Then, as if on cue, the rest of the volleyball team members came into the gym. ‘Finally,’ he thought, happy to have something to distract him from the awkward moment he was having earlier. But no matter how many people were in the gym with him, the only thing that seemed fill up the space in his mind was the orange-haired spiker. They were in the same school and in the same volleyball team as well.

Who knew fate could be such a bitch?

…

Hinata Shouyo

The name rolled easily off his tongue. It rang in his ears. He traced it again and again on the palm of his hand.

Hinata Shouyo

He hated the name. He hated the way he thought about it often. He hated the way it meant so much too him.

Hinata Shouyo

It was his death sentence. His end. His undoing.

Hinata Shouyo

He wanted to run away but it held him firmly in place.

…

The memories came to him again that night. They still appeared in broken fragments that appeared quickly and faded just as fast. A large window. A house by the water. The sounds of children laughing. Blades of grass tickling his arms and legs as he looked up at the clouds.

This time, Kageyama didn’t wake up with his heart pounding wildly in his chest or with his hands gripping the sheets like he did last time. The memories were quite peaceful after all, unlike the other dream wherein the last thing he saw was complete and utter darkness. He turned on his phone to check the time and saw that it was only 4 am, way too early to get up from bed. But now that he was awake, Kageyama didn’t feel like falling asleep again.

Cursing, he sat up in bed and smoothed his unruly hair down. His eyes adjusted to the darkness of his room and he stood up to walk to the door. If he couldn’t sleep he could might as well start getting ready for school. Maybe he could even practice for a while in the gym before everyone else came in. Of course there was also a high chance of him meeting Hinata Shouyo again which he didn’t know if he should look forward to.

But once Kageyama opened the door and stepped out into the hallway he was greeted with the quiet sounds of his mother sobbing from within her room. He stood frozen in the middle of the hallway as the pitiful sound filled his ears. He didn’t need to think long and hard to be able to guess that she woke up from another nightmare. After all, Tobio had the same condition as she did. The sounds of her crying was a painful reminder of what could eventually happen to him someday. Broken, unused, unloved by the one who was supposed to love you with all their heart.

Without thinking, he walked down the hall towards her room but stopped right in front of the door once he realized what he was doing. The last time they had spoken to each other was probably about two weeks ago and when they all had dinner together. Tobio could hear his mother’s crying much clearer now and he knew that going into her room and providing her with some kind of comfort was the right thing to do. He raised a fist to the door, ready to knock. He should do it. He was her only son and the only one who was actually there. But he didn’t know what to say to her if he did enter. And if he did say anything, he didn’t know if it would actually help her.

Swallowing, Tobio lowered his hand and began to walk away from her door. He counted out the exponents of 2 in his head. ‘2…4…8…16…32…’ he mentally recited. Tobio did this as an exercise to help him calm down and block everything out until it became a habit. The first time he did it was after Kitagawa Daiichi lost their final match. The silence in the locker room after the game was deafening and Kageyama did it to calm himself down enough so that he didn’t lash out at everyone in the room. By the time he reached 512 he had successfully blocked out his mother’s crying.

Tobio reached the staircase while still counting in his head when he was greeted with his father sitting on the bottommost step. He was still wearing his pajamas and his glasses, which he was nearly blind without, couldn’t be found. His face was in his hands but he looked up once he heard his son reach the top part of the staircase. Tobio looked just as surprised as his own father was and once their eyes met, all he could see was pain and sadness in them. Finally, the older man spoke.

“You must think I’m pathetic,” he said, smiling bitterly. “And you’re right.”

“When does she do this?” Tobio asked.

“Almost every night,” his father said, his voice close to breaking. He ran a shaking hand through his hair gripped the back of his head. Tobio winced at how similar the action was to how he did it. “And I can’t do anything about it,” he hissed as he covered his face with his other hand.

‘Goddamnit,’ Tobio mentally cursed as his fists clenched at his sides. He slid down the wall and sat down on the floor close to the staircase. He pulled his knees up to his chest and buried his face in them with his hands on his ears. ‘2…4…8…16…’ he began to count again. Aside from his mother’s crying, the Kageyama house was silent from all the unspoken words they should have said to each other.

 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata officially meets Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. Meanwhile, Kageyama seems to be having a bad day in practice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late-ish chapter. School is starting to hit me.

**Hinata**

Hinata was greeted by warm sunlight entering the window when he woke up. ‘Mom must have put up the curtains,’ he thought as he rubbed his eyes. After the events last night, he was comforted by being able to see the sun first thing in the morning. But then seeing the sky all bright and sunny when he woke up only met one thing. ‘She must have forgotten to wake me up.’ Hinata immediately kicked off his blankets and got ready for school

…

5 minutes later, he was riding his bike on the way to school. He found it extremely difficult to pedal as quickly as he could while eating a slice of toast but his hard work soon paid off when he got to school just before class started. He slumped down tired on his chair and began to fix the buttons on his shirt properly and smooth down his unruly hair. The teacher came in shortly after and began taking attendance.

As he did this, Hinata scanned the room full of the faces of his classmates. He found himself looking at every one of them more closely. After all, his soulmate could be any one of them. Now that he noticed it, two boys from the volleyball team were in the same class as him. From what he remembered, the tall blonde one was called Tsukishima and his tan, freckled friend was called Yamaguchi. Their desks were right beside each other by the left side of the classroom.  Hinata watched with interest as Tsukishima secretly passed a note over to Yamaguchi who soon opened it and snickered while reading the content. Then, he scribbled something on the piece of paper before passing it over to his blonde friend.

This time, Tsukishima only smirked after reading the content of the note which he then folded and slipped into his pocket. He turned his head to the teacher who was saying a few announcements about a change in schedule that might occur later in the week. Hinata wasn’t paying attention to him, he was too busy watching the exchange between the pair. While Tsukishima was focused on what the teacher was saying, Yamaguchi gazed at him with an expression that Hinata couldn’t quite read. The freckled teen had a small smile on his face but there was a sad look in his eyes and something else. A feeling Hinata couldn’t place.

‘I wonder if anyone on the volleyball team has a soulmate…’ he thought as he turned around to face the teacher. Right before he slept, he remembered thinking that if he were to follow his heart like his mother advised him, he would search through the volleyball club for his soulmate. Hinata had talked to a bunch of people on the first day of school and on the next following days before there was volleyball club. But even after only meeting them for about an hour in one day, he already felt some kind of connection between the members of the volleyball club.

Hinata smiled to himself. Even if his soulmate wasn’t on the team, he was still glad that he had already formed some kind of bond with the rest of the Karasuno players. It was all he ever wanted after all. As long as he could manage his phobia well and make it bearable enough, Hinata decided to enjoy himself with his new team for as much as possible. And if his soulmate did happen to be on the team like he thought they would, then it was all the better for him.

Hinata tapped his fingers excitedly on the surface of his desk. He couldn’t wait to go to practice later and see his teammates. A million thoughts ran through his head. When will their first match be? Who will they be facing? Will he get to hang out and meet other volleyball teams as well? He grinned as he imagined what the future was going to be like for him. But one underlying thought remained: If his soulmate was in the team, who exactly was it? And how long would it take until he finally met him? Hinata scrunched up his face like he usually did when he was thinking and thought hard. Then, it finally hit him.

‘If my soulmate is someone from the Karasuno volleyball team, does that mean I’m gay?!?”

…

Hinata’s stomach was grumbling even before lunchtime came around. He usually ate a lot of food and the slice of toast he had earlier for breakfast definitely did not cut it for him. Luckily, his mother always packed him a large lunch which he remembered to bring. He hastily brought it out once lunchtime came around.

Yesterday, he ate his lunch with the new friends he made: Ren, Shun, and Kyouya. But the three of them headed out of the classroom once the lunch bell rang so Hinata guessed that he wasn’t really included in their group. Thinking that he would look like a complete loner if he ate alone, Hinata scanned the room for people he could maybe eat his lunch with. Finally, his eyes landed on Tsukishima and Yamaguchi who were eating with their desks facing each other. The pair seemed inseparable and he guessed that they had been friends for quite a long time.

‘I wonder if I should…’ he thought as he held his lunch box in his hands. His stomach growled even louder. ‘I’ll just walk up to them and ask if I can. If they don’t want me to then I’ll sit somewhere else,’ he said to himself with finalization. Hinata slowly walked up to the two friends who seemed to be discussing the opening songs of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

“How can you not like the third opening song, Tsukki?” Yamaguchi exclaimed.

“I’m just saying. It didn’t seem up to par with the rest of the songs,” Tsukishima drawled as he took a sip from a can of juice in his hand.

“All of the opening songs were great!”

“The first and fourth ones were great. The fifth opening song and the second one were okay but the third one was pretty boring.”

“U-um…” Hinata interrupted as he stood in front of the pair’s tables. Tsukishima looked up at him with a cocked eyebrow.

“Can we help you with something?” he asked. Even though those words came out of his mouth, Hinata couldn’t help but think that what he really meant to say was “Go away. I couldn’t care any less about you.”

“I… well…” Hinata swallowed and gripped his lunchbox even tighter. Tsukishima’s judging gaze unnerved him even further and Hinata thought that maybe eating by himself would be the better option. Luckily, Yamaguchi came in to the rescue.

“Ah! You’re from the volleyball club too, aren’t you?” he asked and flashed Hinata a friendly smile.

“Yeah,” he nodded, pleased to see that at least Yamaguchi wasn’t as cold as Tsukishima. Then he wondered how the two of them even became friends in the first place. ‘Either that other guy is secretly nice or Yamaguchi-san is actually secretly mean.’ Tsukishima rolling his eyes seemed to suggest that the latter option was more likely.

“You’re Hinata, right?” Yamaguchi asked kindly and Hinata nodded in response.

“Aren’t you too short to be a volleyball player?” Tsukishima asked bluntly. “But then again, so is that other guy.”

“Tsukki! That’s mean!” his friend scolded. “Sorry, don’t mind him too much. He’s really like that when he meets new people,” Yamaguchi apologized, turning to Hinata.

“I can see that…” he muttered.

“So, why are you here then?” asked the blonde. Hinata opened his mouth to answer the question but was soon interrupted by him. “Are you looking for people to eat lunch with? In that case, you can go somewhere else.”

“O-oh… Sorry…” Hinata looked down. ‘Looks like I’m eating alone then,’ he thought.

“No, he is not,” Yamaguchi contradicted. He turned to Hinata with a smile. “Of course you can sit with us. Please don’t mind Tsukki’s unfriendliness.”

“R-really? Thanks!” Hinata bowed. Tsukishima made a ‘tch’ sound and sipped from his juice but Hinata ignored him. He set his lunch down on the empty space on the desks and pulled out a chair to sit beside Yamaguchi.

“Sure thing. You can sit with us whenever you like if you want to. But it’ll probably take a few months for Tsukki to warm up to you though,” Yamaguchi said with a chuckle.

“Whatever, just don’t bother me,” Tsukishima muttered. ‘Forget months, it will take years to warm up to this guy,’ Hinata thought as he unwrapped his lunch box. ‘Yamaguchi’s friendlier though…’

The two of them went back to their discussion earlier and Hinata watched the exchange with amusement and curiosity as he ate. Even though Tsukishima had the same bored expression on his face as he had last time, he seemed to enjoy talking with Yamaguchi. Hinata even noticed the corners of his mouth turning up in a slight smile sometimes. ‘Well, if he has such a good friend like Yamaguchi sticking to him, he might not be such a bad guy…’ Hinata thought.

“So, Hinata,” Yamaguchi spoke, interrupting his thoughts.

“Huh? Yeah?”

“Do you watch Fullmetal Alchemist?”

“Um… no…”

“What???”

…

Hinata practically jumped out of his seat once the last bell rang. He was planning on walking to the gym with his new friends Yamaguchi (and Tsukishima probably). But seeing that they didn’t seem to be in a hurry, he grabbed his sports bag and headed for the gym. This time, he resisted the urge to burst into the gym like he did last time and instead settled on sliding the door open and walking in. Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Sugawara were already there and dressed in their practice clothes.

“Ah! He’s here!” Tanaka cheered as he waved his hand. Nishinoya and Sugawara turned around as well.

“Glad you’re here early. You must be really excited,” Sugawara grinned.

“I bet he ran here right after the first bell rang,” Nishinoya grinned, elbowing Tanaka. Hinata smiled nervously as well.

“But you better change though,” Sugawara said. “The club room is in the building outside. You can change on the third room of the second floor.”

“Yes! I’ll go get changed right away!” Hinata exclaimed as he took his bag and headed for the changing rooms. He ran up the stairs two at a time but once he reached the door it immediately opened to reveal a tall, black-haired guy with a scowl on his face.

“K-Kageyama!” Hinata squeaked. The boy’s scowl only deepened and his eyes were trained to the floor.

“Hey…” he greeted. He stepped to the side revealing the dark changing room behind him. Hinata gulped and stepped back from the doorway until he was near the railing of the building. Kageyama looked up at him and glared.

“What? Are you scared of me now?” he snapped.

“N-no! I-It’s not that!” Hinata stammered. “I-It’s just…”

“What?!”

“C-could you please turn on the light..?” he said in a small voice. Instantly, Kageyama’s angry expression softened and his eyes looked down.

“S-sure. I’m sorry…” he mumbled as he walked back into the room and switched the light on again.

“Thanks…” Hinata said, breathing a sigh of relief.

“I-Is there anything else you need?” Kageyama asked, looking at Hinata straight in the eye this time. Yesterday, he felt as if he was shrinking beneath those cold, blue eyes that stared him down. But now, the look in his eyes was much different. It had more of a sad and pained expression and Hinata wondered what could have happened to Kageyama for him to have such sad eyes.

“No, I’m alright,” Hinata shook his head, trying to tear his eyes away from the setter’s gaze. He nodded in response. “Th-thank you!” Hinata called out just before he left. Kageyama looked up in surprise.

“Sure…” he nodded again. “Don’t be late.”

“Yeah,” Hinata said as the setter left. He zipped open his bag and began to change for practice.

…

“And before you start practice, please write down your uniform number on the sheet here,” Daichi finished, looking at the first years.

“Yes!” the four of them chorused before taking turns writing their number on the sheet. Hinata grinned with excitement as he wrote down the number ten. ‘Now I can look as cool as the Little Giant did!’ he thought happily.

“When will we be getting our uniforms?” Hinata asked.

“I guess a few weeks from now,” Sugawara replied. “It won’t take longer than a month.”

“For now, you can all wear these,” Daichi announced as he put down a box in front of them. The first years crowded around the box and looked inside. Hinata let out a loud ‘Whoo!’ once he saw the black jackets with the name ‘Karasuno Volleyball Team’ written on the back. Daichi smiled kindly at them. “Go on, try them on.”

“Alright! These look cool, don’t they Tsukki?” Yamaguchi explained as he slipped one on.

“This one’s yours, Shorty,” Tsukishima said as he tossed the jacket he had been trying earlier whose sleeves only came up to his elbows. Hinata caught the jacket in his hands and held it out in front of him, too excited to even pay any mind to the nickname Tsukishima gave him.

“Whoa… So cool…” he breathed out before hastily slipping it on. Besides the long sleeves that reached his fingertips, the jacket fitted well on Hinata’s small frame. ‘I’ll just roll up the sleeves,’ he thought as he zipped up the front of the jacket. ‘Or maybe I can get my mom to trim it for me.’ He looked at the other first years and grinned as he watched Yamaguchi argue with Tsukishima who refused to put his on since he said it was too hot to wear it. Kageyama stood a little to the side, clutching one of the jackets in his hands and staring down at it.

“Aren’t you going to put yours on?” Hinata asked, walking closer to him. Kageyama jumped slightly at his voice.

“Yeah… I guess…” he answered back. Hinata frowned slightly at how disconnected he seemed as he slipped his arms through the sleeves of the dark jacket. After zipping it up, he looked down at himself and shrugged. “Looks alright…” he said plainly.

“At least yours fits. Mine goes past my wrists,” Hinata commented as he raised his own hands to show him. His eyes, however, scanned Kageyama from head to toe. The jacket did fit him really well and the dark, black color complimented his hair.

“Thanks. You could always roll them up,” he replied, still not looking at Hinata in the eye. The expression on his face showed complete disinterest even as he unzipped the jacket to take it off.

“Yeah… I was thinking about that too…” Hinata muttered as Kageyama folded up the jacket and walked away. ‘What’s wrong with him?’ he thought as he watched the dark-haired boy carefully place his jacket in his sports bag. He looked completely different from the smirking, scary, intimidating, boy from yesterday. Now, he looked distracted and a little lost, as if he was caught in a haze. For some reason, it completely bothered Hinata to see him in that state and he found his eyes darting to Kageyama every -once in a while. Even during their warm-ups when the team had to jog several times around the court and do their stretches. But what bothered him the most was the fact that he was bothered by how Kageyama looked.

‘Snap out of it, Shouyo!’ he said to himself angrily. He spiked the ball towards the ball and focused his attention on doing the exercises well like what Daichi-san told them to do. For a while, his attention was centered on that one simple task. That is until he looked up and glanced at Kageyama four more times.

Five, to be exact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how do you guys like otaku-ish Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. I kind of agree with Tsukishima's opinion about the third opening song.
> 
> Please leave kudos or comment!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama has a rough day in school after his awful morning but he discovers a valuable secret of Hinata's. Basically the previous chapter in Kageyama's point of view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late chapter! I know, I'm really sorry. I had such a hectic week last week and I didn't like how this chapter ended so I had to add more stuff. Anyway, hope you all enjoy!

**Kageyama**

It took Kageyama less than an hour to dress up and get to school that morning. At about 5 am he was already walking to school with only half of his school books and notebooks, no lunch, and no breakfast. His hair wasn’t combed so it stuck-up slightly in different directions and his shirt was buttoned up in all the wrong places because he could hardly control his shaking hands while dressing up. But for now that didn’t matter to him. All Kageyama wanted was to get out of the stifling house. ‘At least I brought my gym clothes with me,’ he thought. But once he got to the gym in his school, he no longer felt like playing volleyball.

…

Once lunchbreak came around, Kageyama’s emotional exhaustion was added upon by mental exhaustion as well. He had to go through 4 periods of lessons and all of the teachers there scolded him for not bringing his things. His growling stomach did not doing anything to help him either. Luckily, he remembered to bring his wallet with him despite the chaotic morning.

After purchasing a yakisoba bread and carton of milk, he headed back to his classroom to eat his lunch. While he was walking back to his room, Kageyama passed by the class 1-C classroom and spotted Hinata eating with two other people from the volleyball team. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were their names, if he could recall correctly. The orange-haired boy was talking animatedly with the one named Yamaguchi and Kageyama couldn’t help but be drawn to the boy’s happy smile. He didn’t know that he was staring when the blond boy Tsukishima looked up at him. Kageyama frowned, realizing he’d been caught, and briskly walked away from the classroom.

There were only a few people in his own classroom during lunch break. A trio of girls with their desks pushed together like how Hinata, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi’s were, another girl eating a jam bread in her desk, and two boys eating from their own bento boxes while browsing a magazine. Kageyama sat in his own desk in the middle of the room and unwrapped his yakisoba bread before biting into it. The yakisoba was way too salty but Kageyama hardly cared about the taste. He wasn’t a very good cook himself anyways, no matter how many times he’d cooked before.

His mother used to do the cooking back when Tobio was really young. Too young, apparently, to be left alone at home by his parents. He could never remember how her food actually tasted like, it was as if his mind just filed that memory off as something insignificant and unessential. More proof that Tobio didn’t have what would be considered as a ‘normal childhood.’ He knew that there were probably a whole lot of other children like him and it sort of pissed him off that Hinata didn’t seem to belong to that group of children considering how cheerful he usually was. Tobio knew that it wasn’t his fault but he just felt that it was too unfair. Even though a whole lot of people have felt the joy of being with their soulmate, there were also a whole lot of other people who didn’t. And his parents just happened to be one of them, making Tobio a casualty as well.

…

Once the bell rang to signal dismissal, Kageyama picked up his bag and headed straight for the volleyball clubroom. Sugawara had told him about it the day before so he knew just where to go. As he headed up the stairs, Kageyama saw two people leave the locker room in their gym clothes. There was the really tall guy with long, brown hair named Asahi and the one called Nishinoya who had spiked up hair and was as short Hinata. Nishinoya was talking animatedly about something and making a bunch of big hand gestures while Asahi just nodded and chuckled at the shorter boy’s behavior.

“Ah! You’re here early too! Kage…yama was your name, right?” Nishinoya greeted once Kageyama reached the top of the stairs.

“Mmm,” he nodded in response.

“Well, see you soon at practice. Make sure you bring your A-game too!” he said, grinning and flashing two thumbs-up at him. Asahi smiled sheepishly at the younger boy’s behavior and bowed his head slightly at Kageyama. He watched as the two then walked down the stairs together, returning to their previous conversation. Kageyama felt his stomach knot at seeing the two of them walking so closely together. ‘Soulmates, no doubt,’ he said to himself bitterly.

The way Asahi looked at Nishinoya and the way they walked so closely together. Anyone could see that they were soulmates. Kageyama made his way into the locker room, slamming the door behind him as he felt rage bubble from the inside. He recalled the sounds of his mother crying and the broken look on his father’s face as he sat on the bottom of their staircase. ‘Screw this! Screw all of it!’ he thought angrily as he tugged a white t-shirt over his head and changed out of his pants. All the mental and emotional stress he felt from earlier had built up and Kageyama was very close to snapping. After changing into his gym clothes, he slammed the door of the locker room open and ran into the very person he didn’t want to see.

…

“K-Kageyama!” Hinata yelped. He looked down at the shorter boy standing before him and resisted the urge to smack him out of the way. He really didn’t need to deal with anything else at the moment.

“Hey…” he said in return and stepped out of the way to let Hinata pass. Instead, the shorter boy’s eyes widened in fear as he backed away into the railing of the second floor behind him. The rage that Kageyama had tried to suppress earlier bubbled up again as he watched Hinata’s reaction.

“What? Are you scared of me now?” Kageyama snapped. His fists curled at his sides but he held him down. He didn’t even want to hit Hinata at all but he had no control over his emotions at the moment.

“N-no! I-It’s not that!” he stammered. “I-It’s just…”

“What?!” Kageyama roared back, knowing perfectly well that he was probably going to scare Hinata even more. He imagined what words were going to come out of the shorter boy’s mouth next. ‘What’s your problem? What the Hell is wrong with you? You’re freaking scary, can’t you just stop scowling for one second?’ But he didn’t expect the words that came next.

“C-could you please turn on the light?” Hinata said in a small voice. Confusion hit Kageyama first and then the realization dawned on him. The shorter boy clung tightly to the railing and his eyes avoided looking at the dark room behind Kageyama. He was such an idiot. How could he not have guessed that Hinata was actually scared of the dark when the expression on his face was one that Tobio saw many times on his own father’s face? The rage bubbling inside him simmered down.

“S-sure. I’m sorry…” he mumbled as he went back into the room to turn on the light. ‘Great job, Tobio,’ he said to himself sarcastically. As soon as the lights were on Hinata breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thanks…” he said.

“I-Is there anything else you need?” Kageyama asked, deciding to look into his eyes this time. Suddenly, he felt overprotective for the shorter boy who he probably made a bad impression on. But for now, that didn’t matter much to him. All he could think of were the times when he watched his father break down because of his phobia. He wondered if that happened to Hinata too and he hoped that somebody had been there with him.

“No, I’m alright,” Hinata said, shaking his head. Kageyama nodded and began to walk away, he needed time to sort out all the emotions he was feeling. Suddenly, he heard Hinata’s voice call out to him just before he headed down the staircase.

“Th-thank you!” he said. Kageyama looked up in a mixture of surprise and confusion. Didn’t he hate him right now for yelling at him for no reason? But when he turned to look back at the orange-haired spiker he could see the look of happiness and gratitude on his face. He felt something in his chest stir in response.

“Sure…” he nodded in reply, turning around so that he wouldn’t see that face anymore. “Don’t be late,” he added before walking away to the gym.

…

Kageyama’s mind was too far away for him to pay attention to their coach who was reciting the workouts and practice drills they were going to do for that session. He appeared to be quite young and had spiky blond hair that was held back with a headband. Coach Ukai was his name. Standing beside him and holding a clipboard to her chest was a girl with long dark hair and wore glasses. According to Tanaka and Nishinoya, her name was Shimizu Kiyoko. A senior in Karasuno High School who served as the team’s manager.

Daichi led the whole team in a warm-up jog around the gymnasium. Tanaka and Nishinoya took the lead, sprinting with all their might with Hinata also trying to catch-up to them. If it had been any other day, Kageyama would probably jog at a faster pace a little behind them. Back in Kitagawa Daiichi, he always tried to remain in first whenever they did their jogging warm-up. But there was just too much on his mind for him to start jogging with all his might so he lagged a little behind in the group.

Kageyama’s mind kept returning to the situation that happened only a few moments ago. ‘So the darkness is fear then…’ he thought. Hinata’s trembling body and wide eyes as he was encountered with the dark room. Not only did Kageyama worry about whether Hinata thought he was insensitive for the way he snapped at him earlier, but he also thought about when and how he realized that his phobia had worsened. Judging by the way he reacted to seeing Kageyama yesterday, it seemed most probable that it might have happened on that night.

‘Must have been really hard and shocking for him…’ he thought as his face scrunched up in a frown. ‘It could have happened anywhere.’ Kageyama just prayed that it didn’t happen while Hinata was outside and on his way home. His mind flashed an image of Hinata crouching and trembling with his head in his hands on a sidewalk somewhere on his way home. Kageyama cringed at the thought and just hoped that it happened while he was with his own family at his home. Judging by Hinata’s cheerful disposition and attitude, Kageyama guessed that he was probably raised by a kind and loving family. ‘At least that’s the bright side to his situation,’ he thought as he wondered about whether or not there was a bright side to his own situation.

“Alright everyone! Time for stretches! Find your own place in the gym!” Daichi ordered. Everyone on the team jogged slowly to a stop and began spreading out. Kageyama positioned himself by the side of the volleyball court in the gym and began stretching. His eyes wandered off to Hinata who seemed to have already warmed up to Tanaka and Nishinoya judging by how animatedly they were talking together. Everyone else in the gym had someone to talk to as they did their own stretches except for Kageyama who was still lost in his own thoughts, trying to put two and two together.

‘Hinata’s fear of the dark must have something to do with the dreams I’ve been having too,’ he thought. In his mind, he tried to recall what he saw in those dreams. It wasn’t a very hard task since the memories remained fresh in his mind, as if they were prepared in advance for him to use immediately. On the first night he received the dreams, he remembered seeing complete and total darkness in the last memory. There were also the sounds of crying and anguish echoing in the background. Kageyama winced as they replayed perfectly in his head.

‘That must have some connection to Hinata’s fear then,’ he thought and his mind instantly made a list of the different possibilities as to what happened to Hinata in his past life. So far, he couldn’t think of a good possibility that matched with the rest of his memories. He only hoped that he wasn’t murdered in the dark or something in his past life. A slight feeling of doubt came over him when he thought about the possibility of Hinata not being his soulmate after all when suddenly, Kageyama recalled the first memory he had. He remembered that it was of a woman but the only features that he recalled were her blond hair and her smile. A smile that looked a lot like Hinata’s.

‘There’s no doubt about it,’ Kageyama thought as a small relieved smile settled on his face. ‘That’s Hinata’s smile.’

…

Weeks came and went, Kageyama began to settle into his somewhat new life in Karasuno. He noticed that the longer he knew Hinata, the more memories flooded his mind whenever he dreamt. They came at least thrice a week now but still in the form of quick flashes. Most of the time, they were repeats of the same memories and the new ones came pretty rarely. Kageyama found himself enjoying the more pleasant memories (a feeling of warmth, soft music playing in the background, the sight of a starry sky) that came quite often. But once in a while, he would get a really awful one (a searing pain around his eyes, a burning house, the sound of someone’s screams) that woke him up in the middle of the night and stopped him from going back to sleep.

It was especially bad for Tobio whenever he would wake up just in time to hear his mother crying. He was certain that his father would be waiting at the foot of the stairs during these times so Tobio would lock himself in his bathroom whenever this would happen. He’d sit down on the cold, bathroom tiles with his knees hugged close to his chest, wondering if this would be a normal thing for him until the day he’ll finally be old and capable enough to move out.

There were some good parts to his week as well, the main one being volleyball practice every day after school. Despite his usual cold and stand-offish personality, the members of the club managed to win him over and take him in as part of their family. Kageyama had a special attachment to Sugawara Koushi, who he usually called Suga-san. Both of them were setters and even though Coach Ukai was clearly going to pick Kageyama for the starting line-up, he still looked up to him as a senpai. Sugawara was also one of the first people who actually went up to Kageyama and invited him to eat pork buns with the rest of the team members outside Coach Ukai’s shop. It was the warm and gentle personality that was so unlike his own that brought about Kageyama’s respect for Sugawara.

Hinata was a constant presence in Kageyama’s day. Even when he wasn’t in volleyball practice, Hinata was a thought that remained in the back of his mind. Kageyama knew that the two of them weren’t very close at the moment since Hinata tended to hang out with Tanaka, Nishinoya, and occasionally with Yamaguchi. They would talk from time to time but it was usually about volleyball. However, Kageyama felt that there was a different kind of closeness between the two ever since he discovered Hinata’s fear of darkness.

Through the weeks, Kageyama had learned more and more about the person who was supposed to be his soulmate. He always yelled something like “Gyun!” or “Gwah!” or “Bam!” whenever he went in for a spike. He never backed down from a challenge that Tanaka or Nishinoya usually gave him. He wasn’t into anime that much but he liked video games a lot. He loved the barbecue pork buns from Coach Ukai’s shop.

Hinata’s presence grew especially overwhelming whenever they were on the court. The team hadn’t played in a practice match with another team yet so for now, Coach Ukai had them practice honing their skills. Kageyama found it pretty easy to toss to people like Asahi, Tsukishima, or Tanaka. However, whenever he had to spike to Hinata his body hummed with energy and his tosses ended up too fast. But it wasn’t like Hinata couldn’t keep up with them anyway.

Kageyama discovered that seeing him play and actually being with him on the court were two entirely different things. When he watched Hinata, it felt like everything happened in a blink of an eye leaving him wondering what the hell just happened. But when he was actually tossing to him, it felt like everything was slowed down. The sound of Hinata’s shoes squeaking against the floor of the gym. The sight of him running over to his side from the corner of his eye. His overwhelming presence that seemed to say ‘I’m here. Give me the ball.’ Kageyama found himself obediently following Hinata’s wishes and tossing the ball over to him.

From Kageyama’s view on the court, it really looked like Hinata was flying. His arms outstretched like wings as his body soared towards the net. Kageyama often felt his own chest tighten whenever Hinata would smack the ball that he tossed to the other side of the court. The moment ended once he landed on the ground and Kageyama was left watching as everyone else cheered on the magnificent quick. Later on, Coach Ukai would use that quick and turn it into Karasuno’s most formidable weapon.

               

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment/leave kudos


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coach Ukai sees the potential between Kageyama and Hinata's quick and the two decide to give their all in practicing it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Well, first of all I want to thank you guys so much for the 1000+ hits and the 100+ kudos!! I'm really glad that a lot of you have enjoyed reading this fic so I was really pumped when I was writing this chapter. Good news! I already have the middle part planned out already and school's going to end soon so updates are going to be much faster. Thank you for the comments as well since I really enjoy reading them :)

**Hinata**

“Quick?” Hinata echoed as he looked down at his hand which had just spiked one of Kageyama’s fast tosses over the net. “So that’s what it’s called…”

“You’ve been doing that same move for weeks during practice and you don’t even know what it’s called?” Tsukishima said with an eyebrow raised. “Just when I thought you couldn’t get any dumber. You’re really full of surprises, Hinata,” he smirked.

“Sh-shut up!” Hinata stammered. “Kageyama was just tossing to me quicker than normal so I spiked it over the net of course. I didn’t know it had a special name,” he argued.

“Well it does and it’s called a quick,” Coach Ukai said, stopping the argument between Tsukishima and Hinata just in time. “And,” he grinned, “It might be our ticket to making it past all the powerhouse schools in the prefecture.”

“Do you really think so, Coack Ukai-san?” Daichi asked.

“Yeah,” Coach Ukai nodded. He crossed his arms and held a hand under his chin in his trademark thinking pose. “However, what they’re doing is only an average quick and although it’s quite hard to block, the opposing team may easily get around it.”

“So in order to turn it into a really unstoppable weapon, it will have to be much faster than an average quick,” Sugawara suggested.

“Yeah. And once we hone it, then even Dateko’s Iron Wall won’t be able to stop it,” Coach Ukai grinned.

“Karasuno’s special weapon,” Nishinoya mused as he and Tanaka exchanged glances. “It will certainly surprise our opponents to have such an amazing quick on our side.”

“Yeah!” Tanaka nodded vigorously. “They’ll have to rethink the nickname ‘Unflying Crows’ from now on. We’ll definitely show them what we’re made of!”

“Imagine the look on their faces once Kageyama and Hinata surprise them with their amazing lightning-fast quick!” Nishinoya grinned excitedly. “Then after that I’ll be the one to surprise them with my special receive: Rolling Thunder!!!”

“You guys are getting ahead of yourselves. We don’t even have our quick yet,” Daichi sighed.

“But we’ll definitely have it soon, I’m sure of it,” Sugawara nodded. “Kageyama-kun, Hinata-kun, the team will help you in any way we can in developing that quick.” However, once he turned towards the two freshmen players he found Hinata nodding fervently with both arms wrapped around his abdomen and Kageyama staring down at his hands furiously and muttering to himself.

“W-we’ll d-do our best not to let you guys d-down… Sugawara-senpai…” Hinata said weakly.

“Yes! I will make sure to make the perfect toss, Sugawara-senpai!” Kageyama bowed.

“T-try not to put too much pressure on yourselves. We still have quite a long time to practice before the Inter-High Tournament starts,” Daichi said in an attempt to help the two of them calm down.

“Daichi-san’s right! No pressure!” Tanaka grinned as he clapped each of his hands on both Hinata and Kageyama’s shoulders. “It’s not like we’ll completely lose a match if you two can’t get your quick done properly.” Once the two of them heard those words, Hinata groaned and bent down further as his legs started shaking even more. Kageyama began muttering even faster and his gaze intensified.

“Tanaka-san! You’re just making it worse!” Sugawara cried.

“Well to make a good quick you just need a setter who can toss it quickly in the right direction with the right timing and a spiker who’s fast enough to spike it, right?” Takeda-sensei interrupted. The rest of the team looked up at him.

“That’s right,” Coach Ukai nodded before glancing over at Kageyama and Hinata. “And we have the perfect two players to do just that.”

“Ukai-san’s right,” Takeda agreed, smiling at the two of them. “The two of us, and the rest of the team, have seen what you two are capable of doing. And if the skills needed to perform this amazing quick are within your capabilities, what’s there to be afraid of? All you two have to do is to hone those skills even more and put them together.”

Hinata’s shaking began to cease as he listened to what Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei said. ‘The skills needed to perform an amazing quick…’ he said to himself. He looked over to Kageyama who had stopped his muttering and was now looking down at his own hand. ‘All I have to do is just run and spike Kageyama’s super-quick tosses,’ he thought. Kageyama’s tosses to him were pretty fast, faster than anything he’s ever experienced. But Hinata was always there to spike them. ‘I just have to be much faster. And if I am, I’ll get to see the view from the top again without any blockers facing me.’ A grin broke through his face.

“You’re a lot less nervous now, Hinata,” Sugawara smiled, standing beside him.

“Yeah!” he nodded. “Bring it on!”

…

“Ah!” Hinata yelled as he hurtled straight into the net.

“Hinata! Are you okay?” Sugawara asked, rushing over quickly to the young player. Hinata rubbed the back of his head and slowly stood up.

“Yeah…” he nodded as he checked his arms and legs for any bruises and the like.

“Geez, you ran straight into the net,” Tsukishima commented from where he stood on the other side of the court. “How could you not see that it was in front of you?”

“It’s not my fault! It must be gravity or something!” Hinata protested.

“Gravity?” Tsukishima echoed with a raised eyebrow. “Either that or your lack of a brain…”

“Shut up!” Hinata growled as he tried to tackle Tsukishima who only responded by pushing the spiker at an arm’s length away from him.

“Calm down, Hinata. You did well for today anyway,” Sugawara said as he tried to pry Hinata from Tsukishima.

“But I couldn’t get a spike over the net…” Hinata pouted.

“Sorry, I think my tosses were too fast,” Kageyama joined in. “I should time correctly.”

“Wow, the King’s actually blaming himself for not tossing correctly,” Tsukishima smirked. “This is new.”

“Shut up, Tsukishima,” Kageyama grumbled.

“Yeah! It’s not his fault anyway,” Hinata butted in, popping up to Kageyama’s side.

“Well, we have more time to practice tomorrow anyway so we can fix it by then,” Sugawara advised. “It’s getting late too, we should get home.”

“Oh right!” Hinata remembered as he looked out the door of the gym. He breathed a sigh of relief seeing that it was still light outside. ‘I still have to get home pretty quickly though,’ he thought. After quickly cleaning up the gym, with Tanaka and Nishinoya yelling loudly all the way before getting shushed by Daichi, Hinata packed up his things and got ready to go home.

“Bye! I’ll be going ahead!” Hinata called out as he started heading out of the gym.

“Good work! See you tomorrow, Hinata,” Sugawara waved back. The rest of the team waved at him as well.

“See you tomorrow!” Hinata grinned before walking out of the gym. He headed towards his bike which was chained to one of the stands in the biking area when suddenly, he heard someone call out his name while he was walking.

“Hinata! Oi, Hinata!”

“Huh?” Hinata turned around and spotted Kageyama running towards him. He was wearing the black uniform jacket of the volleyball club and Hinata couldn’t help but think about how it looked good on him.

“Sorry, do you have a minute? I know it’s getting really late so if you need to go it’s fine,” Kageyama said once he reached Hinata.

“Oh, I guess it’s still fine. My house is pretty near here anyway,” he replied. A smile tugged on the corners of his mouth when he heard the slight concern in Kageyama’s voice.

“I’ll just make it quick then,” he nodded. “Um, about our quick…” he mumbled slightly, looking at the ground. He reached up his right hand to run it through his hair on the back of his head. “Do you think that maybe we could practice it a bit more? During our free time I mean, if that’s okay with you.”

“Yeah, I agree,” Hinata nodded. “I really don’t want to disappoint our senpais since they’re relying so much on this quick to work.”

“Great,” Kageyama agreed. “I think so too. We can’t stay late in the gym so I thought that maybe coming in early before class was okay with you.”

“Hmm… Well if it’s not too dark I guess its fine. Around 6 am is okay,” he shrugged.

“6 am? Well, that should do,” Kageyama nodded.

“Great!” Hinata grinned. “I guess I’ll see you early tomorrow,” he said as he unchained his bike and dragged it out.

“Yeah. See you then.” Kageyama bowed his head slightly before walking away. Hinata watched him for a bit before finally riding his bicycle and pedaling home with all his might. While he rode his bike, Hinata kept on thinking about how Kageyama had spoken to him earlier. He sounded much different from the first time they talked.

Hinata remembered how terrified he was of him in his first day of volleyball club. He had definitely heard of his reputation of being a fearsome setter from the powerhouse school Kitagawa Daiichi. People talked about how he was a tyrant who cared too much about winning. Whenever Hinata watched him practice after school, all he could see how was how focused and dedicated Kageyama was to the team. But hidden under all of that, Hinata could sense a hint of loneliness coming from the setter. He noticed how he often kept to himself while doing warm-ups and stretches. After practice was over, he would only join the other team members for pork buns whenever Sugawara invited him.

‘He definitely isn’t like how other people describe him,’ Hinata thought as he neared his house. He remembered the concern in his voice when he asked Hinata if it was alright to talk to him even though it was almost dark out. In fact, even he was confused as to why he told Kageyama of all people about his fear. He never even told anyone else in the volleyball club about it except for Kageyama. And even though the situation demanded it at the time when Hinata told him, he felt quite at ease after the confession. He wasn’t bothered by the fact that Kageyama had been one of the first people to know about his fear.

‘For some reason,’ Hinata thought. ‘I feel like I can really trust him and it will be alright.’

…

**Kageyama**

The first thing that Kageyama checked when he woke up was the window to see how bright it was outside. It was still 5:30 so the sky was a dark grey but there was a little bit of sunlight peeking through the clouds which was a good sign already. His parents had already left the house for their jobs at around this time so Tobio was free to move around the house as he pleased. But whenever he walked down the staircase, his mind would always go back to the image of his father sitting on the bottom step; unable to help out his wife no matter how hard he tried to get over his fear.

Thoughts of seeing Hinata later pushed away those ugly thoughts for the time being as Kageyama put on a pair of dark blue shorts, a white t-shirt, and his Karasuno jacket. The fact that he was going to be practicing an ultra-fast quick with Hinata kept him awake all night long. During their previous practice sessions, Kageyama had been fully aware that his tosses to Hinata were much quicker and that what they were doing was actually a quick already. It sort of bewildered him that Hinata didn’t even know what a quick was even though they had been doing it all this time. But what surprised him even more was the fact that Hinata had been fully aware that his tosses to him were quicker than normal but he still chose to spike it for the sake of spiking.

Kageyama thought that it was only a matter of time until someone from the team noticed their quick so he wasn’t surprised when Coach Ukai said that they should develop it even more. It felt good to be relied on by his new team, especially since Kageyama had grown more attached to his fellow teammates. But unlike Kitagawa Daiichi which had only relied on him for his perfect tosses, he felt like he was more welcomed in Karasuno. Daichi, Sugawara, and Asahi were never short of providing advice and often tried to get Kageyama to join in with their group activities. Tanaka and Nishinoya were loud 90% of the time and even though Kageyama found it quite obnoxious at first, he could clearly tell how they motivated the team and held them together. He rarely spoke to Tsukishima and Yamaguchi since the two were often together and Tsukishima gave off a ‘Don’t talk to me’ kind of vibe. But since Hinata did hang out with them from time to time, he figured that they might not be all that bad either. Kageyama’s newfound connection with his teammates made him want to do everything to help them out but at the same time, he was scared that he might just repeat what he did with his previous teammates from Kitagawa Daiichi.

‘That’s why I have to nail this quick,’ he thought as he finished getting ready for school. The morning air outside was quite cold and Kageyama rubbed his hands on his arms to warm himself up.        As he walked to school, his thoughts drifted back to yesterday when he had asked Hinata if he wanted to practice together. Up until now, Kageyama was still confused about what he felt about him. He liked Hinata a lot, he was sure of that. But he wanted to know if he liked him because of who he was and not just because they were soulmates. Kageyama hated that he didn’t know. Because of that, he wasn’t sure if he should push Hinata away or keep him close.

Asking him to practice together may not have been the greatest decision that Kageyama ever made considering his mixed up feelings. But the two of them really did need to practice their quick if the team was hoping to rely on it during their games. At the moment, Kageyama was hoping that he could make a toss that was easy enough for Hinata to hit but hard enough for the other team to block his spike.

Kageyama could spot Hinata’s bright orange hair from almost a mile away. He was sitting on the front steps of the gym with a manga on his lap which he was reading with focused interest. When Kageyama walked closer, he looked up from his reading and flashed a grin.

“Hey, Kageyama,” he greeted.

“Hey…” Kageyama nodded in reply. “Sorry, did you have to wait long?” he asked.

“Not really. I came here 10 minutes early,” Hinata said. “And besides, I had this manga to read to while waiting.”

“Fullmetal Alchemist?” Kageyama cocked his head slightly to read the title.

“Yeah…” Hinata grinned and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “It’s actually my first time actually reading a manga since I never really got into anime and that kind of stuff. Yamaguchi was completely surprised when I told him I’ve never read or watched Fullmetal Alchemist so he’s lending me his copies,” he said, holding up the manga for Kageyama to see.

“You’re already on the 5th volume? That was one of my favorite parts in the series.”

“I know right!!” HInata exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. “Who’s your favorite character? Mine’s Edward Elric, but that’s pretty obvious though since he’s the main character. But I mean he’s just really cool and I kinda wish I had a metal arm just like him. Imagine how strong my spikes will be!!” he said excitedly and began spiking the empty air in front of him. “I’d be like bam and wham!! And when I block it would be like gwah!!”

“You’ll probably destroy the ball and the court if you had a metal arm,” Kageyama deadpanned with a small smile on his face as he watched Hinata. ‘He’s such an idiot…’ he thought fondly.

“Oh yeah, that’s true…” Hinata pouted and then instantly brightened again. “But it’s a cool idea too though. I should tell Yamaguchi about this later. Hey, you’ve read all of Fullmetal Alchemist too, right?”

“Yeah,” Kageyama nodded. “I’ve also read a bunch of mangas too, in my free time.”

“Really? You should really talk to Yamaguchi and Tsukishima then. I know they’re both into it too. Yamaguchi’s really easy to talk to but Tsukishima’s really annoying though. Yama says that he just needs to warm up to someone a bit more before he actually sees them as a friend,” Hinata said.

“Hmm, I guess I’ll try to then,” Kageyama mumbled. Something told him that it will take more than a decade before Tsukishima ‘warmed up’ to anybody. Especially someone like Kageyama.

“I know!” Hinata said brightly, turning to Kageyama. “Why don’t you hang out with the three of us later during lunch? We eat together in our classroom though so I hope you don’t mind. I mean, you usually keep to yourself during practice so I thought that maybe I can try to help you make more friends too.”

“You’ll… help me with that?” Kageyama said slowly, staring back at Hinata with surprise on his face.

“Of course,” he shrugged. “I mean, you are part of the volleyball team after all.”

“Yeah, but…” Kageyama ran a hand through the hair on the back of his head. “You don’t find me scary?” he asked.

“Well, I guess I did find you pretty intimidating before. Especially since you were always frowning a lot. Like, you get this really intense look on your face whenever you’re about to make a serve,” Hinata said, furrowing his eyebrows together and squinting his eyes in an attempt to copy Kageyama.

“I… see…” Kageyama said. His eyebrows twitched in slight annoyance while watching Hinata, unsure of whether he was doing it on purpose to annoy him.

“But then I realized that it was probably just because you’re so focused whenever you play. I used to think that setters were really lame but whenever I see you toss, it just looks so cool! The ball just goes ‘gyun!’ and it kind of surprises me too whenever I see it coming up to my hand.”

“You think my tosses are cool?” Kageyama repeated as he felt his face heat up slightly. ‘He thinks my tosses are cool!’ he said again in his head.

“Yeah! But I won’t let you beat me on the court either!” Hinata said, with a determined look on his face.

“Idiot, aren’t we supposed to be working together and not against each other?” Kageyama sighed.

“Well that’s why I’m going to put my all into spiking too!” he answered. Kageyama smiled to himself as he walked up the steps and opened the door to the gym.

“Well, we better start practicing then,” he said, turning around to look at Hinata over his shoulder.

“Yeah!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am using way too many Fullmetal Alchemist references here, sorry about that >-


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama and Hinata start practicing their quick and Daichi announces a training camp for the volleyball.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back!! Sorry for the super late post but it was pretty much hell week last week and exams were this week but everything's done! I'll have more time to write later and I hope you guys enjoy this new (super late) chapter!!

**Kageyama**

“Damn it!” Hinata cursed once he landed on the floor. Kageyama clenched his fists in frustration as he watched Hinata express his anger from where he stood. His toss was much too fast for Hinata and the ball had sailed past his grasp again. The floor of the gym was littered with volleyballs from the practice quicks they were doing earlier. The tosses that Kageyama were way too fast for Hinata to spike. He was able to hit a few of them however the timing was off and the ball only hit the net. Kageyama stared down at the ground and bit his lip. ‘I’m tossing way too fast again. I haven’t changed at all since Kitagawa Daiichi…’ he thought bitterly. Pretty soon, Hinata will stop asking Kageyama for tosses and so will the other team members. At least Sugawara was still there to replace him as the setter but then Kageyama would have to remain on the bench during every game.

‘I can’t have that happen,’ he thought. ‘I won’t have that happen.’ He didn’t want to see the expressions of utter disgust and anger on his teammates faces just like the time when Kitagawa Daiichi lost their final match. He looked up again at Hinata who was now just standing silently in front of the net, his face hidden away from Kageyama’s view. ‘At least I don’t get to see the disappointment on his face,’ he thought. Suddenly, the sound of the door opening broke the silence between the two players and Kageyama looked up to see who had entered the gym.

“Hey, I thought you two would be here,” Sugawara grinned as he stepped inside. His lighthearted tone and gentle smile eased the tension that Kageyama was feeling and he secretly thanked him for coming in at the right time. It seemed like Sugawara’s comforting presence also worked on Hinata who instantly snapped out of his frustrated silence.

“Suga-san! You’re here!” Hinata said in surprise.

“Yep, I somehow figured that you two would be practicing early in the morning. I guess I was right,” Sugawara said as he walked closer to them.

“S-sorry, is that not allowed?” Kageyama apologized.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Sugawara waved his hand. “But class will start soon so you guys better clean up. How’s the quick coming along?” he asked. Kageyama and Hinata’s silence at Sugawara’s question was enough to be an answer.

“I see…” he said gently, rubbing the back of his head. “Well, you two still have plenty of time later on. And you can always ask me for help if you need it.” He smiled and patted Kageyama’s shoulder reassuringly. “Just clean up the gym and rest for now. You’re both really tired already.”

“Yes, Suga-san,” the two of them chorused and went straight to picking up the volleyball scattered around the gym. Kageyama felt more relaxed after what Sugawara had told them and he freed his mind from all the pessimistic thoughts that he had been thinking about earlier. But while he was picking up the volleyballs he noticed how quiet Hinata was, extremely different from how he was earlier that morning.

‘It must be my fault,’ Kageyama thought frustratedly. ‘Next time I have to toss slower so that he can spike it. Then maybe that will make him feel better.’ After everything had been packed away, Kageyama and Hinata headed to the locker rooms to change back into their uniforms before going their separate ways to class.

…

Kageyama dropped a few coins into the vending machine outside the school building before pressing the button. A carton of milk fell out of the bottom which he picked up and poked a straw in before drinking. Getting a carton of milk from the vending machine in school was part of Kageyama’s daily lunchtime routine, partly because he idolized Alphonse Elric when he read Fullmetal Alchemist when he was a kid.

The school hallways were busy with students walking around and stopping to chat since it was lunchtime. Kageyama walked past all of them until he reached his somewhat empty classroom. He sat down at his desk and pulled out his lunch to eat it alone even though he wasn’t that hungry. The practice session he had earlier with Hinata that ended with both of them feeling frustrated was still haunting him. ‘I wonder how Hinata feels about this…’ he thought as he picked at his lunch.

“Kageyamaaaa! Oi! Kageyamaaaa!”

“What?” Kageyama frowned and looked up from his lunch when he heard someone call his name. All the other people in the room also looked up from what they were doing. Their heads swiveled in unison to the door when Hinata burst through it. He surveyed the room he had just entered until his eyes landed on Kageyama.

“Oi Kageyama! What are you doing here?” he asked, walking closer to the seated Kageyama who was still holding his chopsticks over his lunch.

“Um… eating?” he replied slowly, still surprised by Hinata’s sudden entrance to think clearly.

“Haaaa? I thought we were eating together with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. I said I’d introduce you to them earlier didn’t I?” Hinata said. He was now standing in front of Kageyama with both his hands planted on top of the desk.

“Oh… yeah, you did,” Kageyama nodded.

“Then come on! We’ve been waiting for you to join us and Tsukishima kept on saying you wouldn’t come so let’s go!” Hinata exclaimed. Kageyama chose not to argue with him and instead obediently packed up his lunch. Hinata grabbed onto his hand and started dragging him out of the classroom and down the hallway.

‘Did he get out of his mood earlier this quickly?’ Kageyama wondered as he let himself be dragged along. Hinata’s hand was gripping the sleeve of his uniform jacket and Kageyama noticed how small it was compared to his own hand. Now that Hinata was standing close to him, it was even more obvious how small he actually was. The top of his orange head just reached the top of Kageyama’s shoulder, and he was probably of about average height. He noticed how edges of Hinata’s sleeves reached the middle of his hand and how the legs of his pants went past his ankles. ‘He’s really small…’ Kageyama thought as a small smile crossed his face.

Finally, the two of them reached Hinata’s classroom which was quite far from Kageyama’s own classroom. Hinata walked straight inside but Kageyama lingered by the doorway. He could see Tsukishima and Yamaguchi seated together in the middle of the classroom. The two of them were having a conversation with Yamaguchi looking superbly engaged in it while Tsukishima only showed mild interest. Hinata headed over to them but stopped and turned around when he noticed that Kageyama wasn’t following him.

“Hey, aren’t you coming?” he asked, walking over to Kageyama. “What’s the matter?”

“About earlier…” Kageyama began and paused slightly. “I’m sorry, I was tossing too fast. In the end, we weren’t able to get a single quick over the net.”

“Oh, that?” Hinata scratched the back of his head and grinned sheepishly. “Well, I am still pretty mad that I couldn’t get a spike over the net. I mean, it’s so frustrating whenever you see the ball just sail right past your hand.”

“Yeah, I see…” Kageyama nodded as he looked down at the floor.

“But it won’t be like that forever!” Hinata suddenly exclaimed. Kageyama looked up with a start and found himself staring straight into Hinata’s wide brown eyes. He could see the determination and excitement flashing behind those eyes and he found himself unable to look away. “We’ll get that quick done for sure and it will be the best move Karasuno’s ever had!”

Kageyama’s face broke out into a grin as he nodded to what Hinata said. “You’re right. I guess I was just worrying too much over it.”

“Yeah. I’m actually pretty surprised that you also worry a lot. You just don’t seem like the type,” Hinata said, cocking his head to the side.

“Oi Hinata! Are you joining us here or what?” Tsukishima called from across the room.

“Ah! Sorry Tsukishima! We’ll be there right away,” Hinata apologized before turning to Kageyama. “Let’s go, Kageyama.”

“Yeah,” he nodded and the two of them made their way to the table.

…

“Ah, you also read Fullmetal Alchemist too, Kageyama?” Yamaguchi asked, looking up from his lunch.

“Mmm… yeah…” Kageyama nodded, fidgeting slightly in his seat.

“He said he finished reading the whole manga series,” Hinata said while chewing on a piece of fried chicken and rice.

“Tch! Don’t talk while chewing. It’s disgusting,” Tsukishima scolded.

“Ah, sorry Tsukishima,” Hinata said while covering his mouth with one hand. “Oh yeah, Yamaguchi. I finished Volume 5 earlier already.”

“Ah, really? How did you like it?” Yamaguchi asked excitedly.

“It was really cool! One of my favorite parts in the series so far!” Hinata cheered.

“That’s great. I’ll lend you the next one tomorrow.”

“Really?” Hinata said with his eyes lit up and excited. “Thank you Yamaguchi!” he bowed.

“You don’t have to go that far…” Yamaguchi smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

“Weirdos…” Tsukishima muttered as he took another bite of his rice ball.

“Speak for yourself, Tsukki. You were like us before too, don’t deny it,” Yamaguchi grinned.

“Was not,” Tsukishima said stubbornly, turning away as he drank his can of orange juice. Yamaguchi merely smiled and shook his head at his friend’s reaction. Kageyama quietly watched the exchange between the two friends. He knew that the two of them were childhood friends and that they grew up together. But he felt that maybe there was something more going on between the two of them. Kageyama could feel it whenever he saw Yamaguchi’s glances at Tsukishima that lasted for a second too long. He could hear it in the way Tsukishima said Yamaguchi’s name, how gentle it sounded despite the usual cold and indifferent tone that it was delivered in.

The bell rang signifying the end of lunch period. The four of them packed up their lunch boxes and arranged the desks back in their proper order. Before leaving, Yamaguchi approached Kageyama and held out his hand for him to shake.

“It was nice having you here with us for lunch. You should come again next time,” Yamaguchi grinned as he shook his hand.

“Yeah, maybe I will then,” Kageyama nodded. Somehow, Yamaguchi’s presence felt a lot like Sugawara’s. They shared the same kind of easygoing smile that made him feel relaxed and welcomed.

“Maybe next time I won’t have to drag you all the way here,” Hinata grinned.

“Don’t worry, I’ll find my own way next time,” Kageyama said as he walked to the doors of the classroom. Before leaving, he turned around and waved at his newfound friends, with Tsukishima standing off to the side and ignoring him as usual, and then exited the room.

…

**Hinata**

Hinata thought that he had arrived earlier than the other team members. The locker rooms were surely empty when he came in and much to his convenience, the light was turned on. Hinata found it a bit strange that it was on since he was sure that Kageyama had turned it off once the two of them left the room after using it that morning. ‘Oh well,’ he thought while he was changing into a t-shirt. ‘Lucky me I guess.’ But his earlier assumption was proven wrong when he saw Kageyama in the gym. Already dressed in his practice clothes but looking slightly out of breath as he leaned against the wall of the gym.

“Ah, you’re here pretty early,” Hinata said as he approached Kageyama.

“Yeah… So are you…” Kageyama said, panting in between. Hinata cocked his head slightly as he looked at the exhausted setter. ‘That’s strange,’ he thought. ‘Kageyama never comes in really early for practice, this is probably the first time he’s done that. And he looks really tired, as if he ran all the way here.’ Suddenly, he remembered the light that was left on in the locker room. ‘Could it be that..?’

“Kageyama,” Hinata spoke up.

“Yeah?”

“You used the locker room earlier, right?” he asked.

“Yeah, I did,” Kageyama nodded, turning his face slightly away from Hinata.

“You left the light on, you know?” Hinata said.

“D-did I?” Kageyama asked. “I guess I didn’t notice it.” Hinata looked down at the floor of the gym and smiled to himself. Kageyama was still turned away from him and Hinata decided to sit down right beside him. The two were silent for a while with Kageyama playing with the end of his shoelace until Hinata decided to end it by speaking up.

“Thanks…” he said. Kageyama’s fingers stopped playing with the shoelace and he turned to glance at Hinata for a split second before training his gaze on the floor.

“Sure,” he replied.

“You know… I haven’t told anyone else in the volleyball club about it yet,” Hinata said, leaning his head back against the wall behind him.

“Really?” Kageyama asked, turning his head toward him with a look of surprise on his face.

“Yup,” HInata nodded. “It’s not that I don’t want to, though. Knowing Suga-san and the rest of the team, they’ll probably be super supportive about it.”

“Yeah,” Kageyama agreed. “The team really cares about all of us.”

“They do,” Hinata smiled. “So I guess telling them sometime soon will be good. I guess I just haven’t found a reason to yet.”

“I see…” Kageyama nodded.

“But thanks for deciding not to tell anyone about it anyway, and for helping me out whenever you can. I just got this thing quite recently so I’m not really that used to managing it yet. But my family’s helping out with it too,” Hinata said.

“That’s great. At least you have people who are willing to support you on it.”

“Yeah. It is…” Hinata trailed off and the two of them were silent once more. He turned his head slightly as he studied Kageyama beside him. He was leaning forward with his arms on his knees and he was staring ahead with a faraway look in his eyes. Hinata noticed that Kageyam had that kind of look on his face most of the time and it made him wonder what the setter was thinking about. ‘Now that I think about it, I wonder what Kageyama has…’ he thought. Something inside him told him that Kageyama didn’t have the fear but the memories. He didn’t know how that thought came about but that was what he chose to believe. ‘But has he gotten them already?’ Hinata wondered.

That same thing inside him told him that he did.

…

 Once everyone in the volleyball club was present in the gym, Takeda-sensei and Daichi called for an assembly. All of them sat together on the floor with Hinata deciding to sit next to Kageyama instead of with Tanaka and Nishinoya for the time being. After they had all gathered, Takeda-sensei stood before them and straightened his glasses before making his announcement.

“The team will be going on a three day-long training camp in an area around the prefecture,” Takeda-sensei said with a large smile on his face. “The Inter-High is coming up pretty soon so the training camp will be beneficial for all of us to hone our skills even more for the tournament.”

“A training camp…” Hinata echoed, his eyes widened with excitement. “Hey Kageyama!” he said, turning to face the setter beside him. “Have you been to a training camp before? I’ve heard a bit about them but I’ve never actually been to one.”

“Well I’ve been to quite a few actually in middle school,” Kageyama replied.

“Really? I’m so jealous!” Hinata exclaimed. “Were they really fun?”

“Not really. The practice was okay but other than that, I didn’t really do much there,” he shrugged.

“Ah, I see…” Hinata said disappointedly, hoping for an answer that was different from what Kageyama told him.

“And right after the training camp…” Coach Ukai stepped in and his face broke out into a scary-looking grin. “We’ll be having a practice match with another team from within the prefecture.”

“You got us a practice match?” Daichi asked incredulously.

“Yeah. It was all due to your sensei’s planning and tenacity when it came to getting a team to play against us,” Coach Ukai grinned and gave Takeda-sensei a thump on the back.

“I-It wasn’t much, really…” he said, adjusting his glasses again with a slightly embarrassed look on his face.

“Thank you very much!” Daichi exclaimed, bowing in front of Takeda-sensei.

“Thank you very much!” the whole team chorused, following their captain.

“But, sensei,” Asahi spoke up. “Which team are we having our match with?”

“That’s a very good question,” Coach Ukai nodded. “Well, it’s a bit incredible really, but we got Seijoh to fight against us.”

“Seijoh?” Hinata repeated, his head cocked to the side.

“Wow, you actually got them to agree on a practice match with us…” Daichi whistled.

“Well… they did have one condition…” Takeda-sensei said as his focus swiveled over to Kageyama. “They want Kageyama to play throughout the whole match.” Hinata turned to look at the setter beside him who had obviously stiffened once he heard those words. He gazed intensely at the floor and clenched his fists in his laps.

“Haaa? How come they asked for that? Do they think Kageyama’s special or something?” Tanaka asked as he leered over at Kageyama.

“No, it’s not that,” Kageyama said simply. He looked up from the floor and addressed the questioning looks that were on everyone else’s faces. “Those who graduate from Kitagawa Daiichi usually go to Seijoh for high school. My teammates from middle school are probably there.”

“So? Think of it as more of a middle school reunion or something. Why are you so bothered by it?” Tanaka asked.

“There’s more, actually,” Kageyama continued. “One of my seniors from Kitagawa Daiichi also plays for Seijoh. He’s the team captain, in fact, and the setter as well.”

“Wait,” Sugawara interrupted Kageyama. “You don’t mean…”

“Yeah,” Kageyama nodded grimly. “The Grand King, Oikawa Tooru.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More KageHina moments! YESSSSS! Oikawa will be introduced later in the story but I'm still not sure as to what role he'll play. I don't think he'll have a very big part though... Anyway, thanks for reading! Please comment/give kudos


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata finally confronts Sugawara about his fear and they try to convince Tsukishima and Yamaguchi to do the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly late post but here's the next chapter! I'm super excited for how this story is going to turn out and thank you all so much for all the kudos and comments so far!

**Kageyama**

“Woah… Grand King? I want a cool nickname like that too…” Hinata exclaimed, eyes widening in awe.

“Eh? So what if he has some kind of cool nickname? We can still beat Seijoh to a pulp, can we?” Tanaka boasted. “Besides, what’s the deal with his name anyway?”

“Well, from what I’ve heard, Oikawa Tooru’s a pretty good leader and the many matches that Seijoh has won against other teams is pretty good proof of that. Thus earning him the title of ‘Grand King,’ am I right, Kageyama?” Sugawara asked.

“Yeah,” Kageyama nodded.

“So what? We’ve got Daichi-san on our side,” Tanaka butted in.

“That’s true,” Sugawara nodded, flashing a smile at Daichi. “But apart from being a great leader, Oikawa’s also notorious for his skills as a setter and his service aces, which very few people have managed to receive,” he added.

“Then you’ll just have to rely on the Guardian Deity of Karasuno!” Nishinoya exclaimed. He stood up and pointed a thumb towards his chest. “It doesn’t matter who we’re fighting against or how good their service aces are. You guys take care of the offense while I’ll watch your back. Besides, we’ve got Asahi and Ryuu on our side to break through whatever defense they have and score as many points as possible!”

“That’s the spirit. Noya!” Tanaka yelled in agreement.

“And let’s not forget the killer quick that we’ll be using against them,” Daichi added. Kageyama instantly tensed up.

“Yeah,” Coach Ukai nodded in agreement. “We’ll have plenty of time during the training camp to practice it after all.”

“R-right. We’ll work on it,” Kageyama replied stiffly. Sugawara seemed to sense his stress and decided to flash him a comforting smile.

“We’ll all help you practice it in any way we can, okay Kageyama-kun?” he said.

“Yeah. Thanks,” Kageyama said, relaxing slightly.

“Just to let you all know, the training camp will be next week. We’ll leave the school on Thursday afternoon and return Sunday afternoon,” Takeda-sensei added. “The game with Seijoh will happen sometime during noon before we head back to the school.”

‘Thursday afternoon…’ Kageyama thought. ‘But… that means we’ll be travelling when it’s dark,’ he realized. He glanced at Hinata beside him who seemed slightly nervous and preoccupied with his own thoughts.

“If there aren’t any questions then the meeting will be dismissed,” Takeda-sensei said. He looked around at all the members seated on the floor. ‘Isn’t he going to say anything?’ Kageyama wondered as he frowned at Hinata who remained silent.

“Okay then, the meeting is dismissed. I hope you all can join the training camp,” Takeda-sensei finished.

…

Kageyama headed home immediately after changing from practice. While walking, he spent his time thinking about the training camp coming soon and the practice match against Seijoh. Anxiety filled his chest. Besides the realization that he and Hinata would have to practice their quick for the Seijoh match since their team was relying on them, there was also the fact that they would have to find a way to deal with his fear during the training camp. There was no doubt that Hinata wanted to go and that he would do anything just so he could. He’d probably even cut off his own foot just so he could go. But why didn’t he tell the team about his fear when he had the chance?

‘Could he have forgotten about it?’ he wondered but immediately dismissed the thought. Considering the effect it had on his life, it would probably be impossible for Hinata to forget about such a thing. ‘He could also be planning to tell them later on,’ he thought. But when would that be? It could also be possible that Hinata wouldn’t tell them and the team would find out later on during the training camp. ‘Nope. Nope. Can’t happen,’ Kageyama shook his head.

“Hey, what are you thinking about?” a voice he instantly recognized as Hinata spoke up beside him. Kageyama immediately opened his eyes and turned his head to see Hinata walking beside him with his bicycle.

“H-Hinata?!?” he exclaimed in surprise. “How long were you there?”

“Long enough to see how constipated you face looks when you’re in deep thought,” Hinata grinned. Kageyama felt his eyebrows twitch as he felt the need to smack Hinata on the back of his head.

“Shut up. I just had a lot of things to think about.”

“Sure looks like it. I’ve called your name ten times but you didn’t respond so I decided to walk over to you,” he said. Kageyama looked up at the sky which had turned a dark shade of orange as the sun began to set. The sky overhead was a dark bluish-purple with a few stars peeking through the clouds.

“Shouldn’t you be heading home quickly soon?” he asked, pointing up at the sky.

“Hmm? Well my house isn’t very far from here actually. It looked like you were heading in the same direction too which is why I decided to join you for a bit,” he shrugged. “So… what were you thinking about earlier, Kageyama?”

“Well…” Kageyama began. He paused for a moment and swallowed before continuing. “I was thinking about earlier, when they announced the training camp and the Seijoh match.”

“Ahhh… that,” Hinata nodded. “Well, if you’re nervous about it then you probably shouldn’t be. We’ll get our quick done in no time. Even if you are our team’s genius setter, I still won’t lose to you on the court,” he said, grinning determinedly at Kageyama.

“You better fix your receives first,” he smirked.

“I’m working on it!”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it soon, I’m sure.”

“Really? You really think so?” Hinata asked excitedly.

“Well, you put your 110% in everything that you do,” Kageyama shrugged. “I’m not too worried that you’ll be able to get better.”

“And you’re 110% right about that!” Hinata exclaimed, hopping onto his bicycle. “Now I’m super pumped about it! Just you wait, I’ll do the same about our quick too so you better be ready for me!”

“Yeah, I will,” Kageyama nodded, an amused smile playing on his lips.

“Well, I’ll be going this way now. See you again tomorrow morning?”

“Sure. See you, Hinata.”

“Yeah! See you!” Hinata waved before pedaling away.

…

**Hinata**

His parents allowed him to go to the training camp, of course. But it also meant that Hinata had to tell the team about it as well. He wasn’t entirely sure as to how the team would take the news. He knew that a few of them had their own fears as well but he just didn’t know what they were at the moment. Hinata’s fear was especially inconvenient when it came to the training camp since there was the matter of travelling at night and also going around a place when it was dark. ‘I just hope that I don’t bother the team so much with this…’ he thought glumly.

As he lay in bed in his dimly lit room, Hinata’s thoughts began to go over the events of the day. The early morning practice session that he had with Kageyama. Eating lunch with him, Tsukishima, and Yamaguchi. The announcement of the practice match and training camp. And lastly, his last conversation of the day with Kageyama when they were on their way home.

‘It seems like getting to know him is probably the highlight of my day,’ Hinata thought as he stared up at the ceiling with his blanket pulled up to his chest. A smile spread across his face when he thought of the light that Kageyama left on in the changing room for him and the way he tried to brush off his good deed like it was nothing. Hinata couldn’t even remember why he didn’t want to approach Kageyama at first. But then he realized that it could have been because of how he imagined the ‘King of the Court’ to be.

‘Intimidating. Cold. Harsh.’ Hinata listed off different words he initially used to describe Kageyama and then realized how much of a mistake they were. He only thought he was intimidating because of how tall he was and the presence he gave off while he was on the court. His ‘cold’ personality which came from how he chose to distance himself from others was probably because of his shyness around new people. And harsh, well…

That was probably Hinata’s biggest mistake, and he was glad to have realized that. He even found himself viewing Kageyama’s presence as strangely comforting. It wasn’t like Sugawara’s ‘refreshing’ presence which had more of a large scale effect and worked even on new people. Kageyama felt like the person who reached out to a select few people whom he really trusted.

‘If only more people on the team knew how he really was like,’ Hinata thought as he yawned and snuggled deeper under his blankets. ‘Then maybe Kageyama would enjoy being part of the team more…’

…

“U-um… Sugawara-san! Can I… speak with you for a moment…” Hinata asked shyly. He and Kageyama had just finished cleaning up the gym after another morning practice session, that wasn’t that different from the practice session yesterday, when Sugawara walked in to check on them. Kageyama turned slightly in their direction once he heard what Hinata said so he decided to stay and pretend like he was doing something while listening to their conversation.

“Sure. What do you need to talk about?” Sugawara asked, walking closer to Hinata. His calm and gentle expression helped Hinata relax slightly before finally opening up to his senior.

“I… I have a fear of the dark. I only just discovered it recently, actually…” he said, twiddling his fingers together in nervousness. “I know that this would probably be an inconvenience during the training camp and I should have spoken up about it yesterday but, I don’t know. I guess I was a bit too scared to say it in front of everyone yesterday so I decided to tell you,” Hinata said finally looking up at Sugawara once he finished.

“Well, it’s about time that you did,” Sugawara grinned. “I was actually waiting for one of you freshmen to say something yesterday. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi haven’t approached me yet but I’m really glad that you decided to step up.”

“I-I also have something to add then,” Kageyama spoke up from behind. Both heads swiveled to look at him as he walked towards Sugawara. “I already have my memories and sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night or during early morning,” he confessed.

“I’m glad you also decided to tell me, Kageyama-kun,” Sugawara smiled gently. Hinata didn’t say anything and simply looked at Kageyama. ‘So I was right then… He does have the memories,’ he thought.

“I’m sorry if I might cause an inconvenience to everyone else,” Kageyama bowed deeply.

“There’s no need for that,” Sugawara chuckled as he motioned to Kageyama to stand back up. “But if you guys don’t mind, may I relay this information to Daichi, Coach Ukai, and Takeda-sensei so that some necessary preparations can be made? You can trust them not to spread it to anyone else if you two do not want them to.”

“Sure,” both Hinata and Kageyama chorused and nodded their heads in unison.

“So then I guess we’ll have to make our departure time a little earlier, so that we’ll be travelling in the afternoon instead of at night…” Sugawara mused as he brought a hand to his chin while thinking. “We might also need a few separate rooms again…”

“I-I hope it’s not too much trouble...” Hinata spoke up.

“Not at all, Hinata,” Sugawara said reassuringly. “Actually, most of us in the volleyball team are already dealing with our own fears and memories so during training camps, we try to suit everybody’s needs. I’m sure the rest of the team will also be supportive about your fears and memories if you shared it with them.”

“Yeah, I actually feel more relieved about it now,” Hinata grinned. Beside him, Kageyama nodded in agreement.

“I’ll make sure to inform you guys about our preparations for the training camp within the week,” Sugawara said. “In the meantime, can you two do me a favor as well?”

“Sure. What would that be?” Kageyama asked.

“Well, I know that Tsukishima’s pretty closed off from the rest of us and I’m worried that if he won’t open up about his fear or memories, then Yamaguchi won’t.” Sugawara sighed and rubbed a hand on the back of his head. “Can you two try to get them to at least open up and tell me? I really don’t want anything to happen to those two during the training camp.”

“No problem!” Hinata grinned and flashed Sugawara a thumbs-up. “Kageyama and I can do that. Right, Kageyama?” he asked, turning to him.

“Yeah. We’ll do our best,” Kageyama nodded.

“Great! I’m glad I can count on you,” Sugawara smiled. Suddenly, the bell rang signifying the start of classes. The three of them made their way outside the gym and Sugawara waved at them before heading off to class.

“I’m glad I told Sugawara-san,” Hinata smiled as he walked back to the school building with Kageyama.

“Yeah, me too,” Kageyama agreed.

“Hey, you’ll eat lunch again with us, okay?” Hinata said as he stopped in front of his classroom, turning to Kageyama.

“Sure,” Kageyama said, a corner of his mouth lifting up in a slight smile. “See you later.” He gave one last wave and with that, he left for his own classroom.

…

Hinata knew that Kageyama could probably go to his classroom by himself but he came over to Kageyama’s classroom when the lunch bell rang anyway. “Oi Kageyama! Let’s go eat lunch!” he called out once he reached the classroom. There were only a few students inside but everyone turned their heads to look at Hinata once he barged into the classroom. He spotted Kageyama’s face easily and waved at him from the front of the classroom.

“Oi Kageyama! Come on! Let’s ea—“

“Shhhh! Alright, I know! You don’t have to yell it twice,” Kageyama shushed him, covering Hinata’s mouth with one of his hands as he pushed him towards the exit of the classroom. Once outside, he removed his mouth to reveal a huge, stupid grin on Hinata’s face.

“What are you smiling for?” Kageyama asked, clearly irritated by Hinata.

“Nothing,” he sang as he started to walk towards his classroom. “Just thinking that maybe I should do that more just to annoy you.”

“Very funny,” Kageyama rolled his eyes. “By the way, do you have a plan on how to get Tsukishima and Yamaguchi to open up to Sugawara-san?”

“Hmm… Nope, not really,” Hinata shook his head. “But maybe if we try convincing Yamaguchi about it then Tsukishima could be convinced by Yamaguchi.”

“Well, it’s better than nothing,” Kageyama sighed as the two of them entered the classroom. Inside, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi had already moved the desks together and were seated beside each other as well.

“You two are earlier today,” Tsukishima commented as Kageyama and Hinata sat down at their makeshift table.

“Yeah, especially since Hinata had to barge into my classroom,” Kageyama sighed.

“I told you not to bother him anymore,” Yamaguchi scolded Hinata. “It’s not like Kageyama can’t find his own way here.”

“Yeah, but I wanted to give him a reminder in case he forgot,” Hinata shrugged. ‘And because I wanted to annoy him a bit,’ he added mentally.

“As if I’d forget something that easily,” Kageyama grumbled.

“You’re probably the most prone to forgetting out of all of us here, Hinata,” Yamaguchi nodded.

“Am not!” Hinata protested.

“Did you remember to do the Math homework that’s due today?” Tsukishima deadpanned as he calmly unwrapped his egg sandwich and took a bite.

“Crap! So that’s why I fell asleep with my Math notebook,” Hinata groaned while smacking his face with both hands. “Tsukishima! Let me copy your homework!” he begged.

“No, don’t want to,” Tsukishima said as he continued to calmly eat his sandwich. “Besides, the teacher would easily find out that you copied someone else’s homework since an idiot like you couldn’t possibly get all the answers to a Math homework correctly.”

“Whatever Tsukishima,” Hinata pouted. “No one needs you anyway. I’ll just copy from Yamaguchi or Kageyama.”

“Um… I think something’s wrong with Kageyama…” Yamaguchi pointed at the setter who sat silently with a dead look on his face.

“You’re right,” Hinata said. “Kageyama! Oi! Kageyama!” he said loudly while poking him on the shoulder.

“Actually… I forgot my Math homework too…” Kageyama mumbled. Tsukishima threw back his head and laughed.

“You two really are idiots. Is volleyball the only thing in your heads?” he smirked.

“Shut up, Tsukishima!” both Hinata and Kageyama yelled at the same time.

“It seems like it is,” Tsukishima shrugged.

“Well, it’s just one forgotten homework anyway,” Hinata said, trying to laugh it off. “It’s not like it will affect anything after all.”

“Um, Hinata?” Yamaguchi spoke up. “This is actually the third assignment you’ve forgotten this week.”

“That would probably be a total of about twelve missed assignments for the month,” Tsukishima calculated. “Not like you’d probably have the brains to calculate that. Oh and I suppose you already knew about the rule that you’ll have to take supplementary classes on weekends to make up for the assignments you’ve missed if you’ve missed more than fifteen assignments.”

“Gahh!! Now I’m really in trouble…” Hinata groaned and sank down in his seat with his head on the desk. “Yamaguchi, please help me…” he pleaded.

“I guess it can’t be helped then,” Yamaguchi sighed. “But just this once, okay?”

“Awesome! You’re an angel Yamaguchi!” Hinata exclaimed, instantly straightening up in his seat. Tsukishima rolled his eyes and scowled at the two of them.

“Um… May I also copy as well?” Kageyama spoke up. “I think I’ve missed around twelve assignments too…”

“Geez, you guys are no different from each other,” Yamaguchi rolled his eyes. “You better do something about it, though. You’ll also have to take supplementary classes if you get low scores on your tests too. And if that happens you’ll have less time to practice.”

“I have a feeling that this ‘supplementary class’ thing is going to happen often to those two,” Tsukishima said.

“Oh yeah, are you two also going to the training camp?” Hinata asked, casting a sideways glance at Kageyama who gave a slight nod of recognition.

“Yup! Tsukki and I definitely wouldn’t miss it!” Yamaguchi grinned.

“That’s great! Now I’m really psyched for this training camp!” Hinata exclaimed. “But I guess I’m also a bit worried about it too…”

“Huh? How come?” Yamaguchi asked, cocking his head slightly.

“Well, it’s because of my fear, actually…” Hinata said slowly. “I have a fear of the dark and it recently just got worse so it’s probably going to be a lot of trouble during the training camp.”

“So yours is a fear of the dark, huh…” Yamaguchi mused. “Well that is pretty inconvenient. It must be really hard for you to deal with it.”

“Yeah, kinda,” Hinata smiled slightly and shrugged. “But I told Sugawara-san about it and he said that it wouldn’t be that much of a problem to take care of it. In fact, he was actually glad that I told him. Even Kageyama opened up about his as well.”

“Yeah,” Kageyama nodded in agreement. “Sugawara-san also said that everyone else in the volleyball team were also dealing with their own fears and memories so they’re all just helping each other out with it.”

“That’s right. So if you guys need to tell Sugawara-san about yours, then he’ll make sure to take care of it,” Hinata added. Beside him, Tsukishima narrowed his eyes and stopped eating.

“That seems like a good idea, right Tsukki?” Yamaguchi said, turning to Tsukishima. Hinata and Kageyama exchanged knowing glances.

“You two should definitely tell him,” Hinata grinned.

“Yeah, as if we will,” Tsukishima said sarcastically as he crumpled up his sandwich wrapper into a ball. “Thanks, but no thanks. Yamaguchi and I can deal with it on our own.”

“But that’s stupid,” Kageyama spoke up. “Sugawara-san said that—“

“I don’t care about what ‘Sugawara-san’ said,” Tsukishima snapped. “Yamaguchi and I will take care of it. The rest of you don’t need to interfere.”

“But Tsukki,” Yamaguchi said meekly. “They might help. I think we can trust them.”

“That’s what we thought before, and look where it got us,” Tsukishima said coldly.

“But Tsukki—“

_“Tadashi.”_

Hinata and Kageyama looked up in surprise at the sound of Yamaguchi’s name. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi looked each other in the eyes as an unspoken conversation passed between them. ‘Something must have happened before,’ Hinata guessed. The tension between the four of them broke once the bell rang. Yamaguchi dropped his gaze.

“Alright, I agree with you, Tsukki,” he said softly.

“Good.” Tsukishima stood up and began moving the desks back in place. “You better get going to class now, Kageyama,” he said without looking up from his task.

“Yeah, I’ll see you guys later,” Kageyama said as he stood up from his seat. Before leaving, he looked back at Hinata and the two both nodded before Kageyama finally left. Not a word passed between Tsukishima and Yamaguchi which left Hinata wondering about what he was going to do about them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooohhhh... What could Tsukishima be hiding?


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata and Kageyama are headed to the training camp

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I just posted two days ago but I had so much free time so I decided to write a new chapter. And because I love you guys :3. Hope you enjoy this chapter! It's mostly just the volleyball kids being dorks and Daichi and Suga being their parents.

**Hinata**

“So Tsukishima doesn’t want to open up about and therefore Yamaguchi won’t either…” Sugawara mused. “This is going to be difficult indeed.”

“Sorry. I told you to rely on me but I wasn’t able to convince them in the end,” Hinata apologized.

“Sorry Sugawara-san,” Kageyama added.

“No, don’t be sorry. You did what you could and I’m thankful for that,” Sugawara smiled kindly. “Tsukishima and Yamaguchi must have their reasons for doing so. I guess what we can do for now is to be wary for any possible triggers while we’re there but it’s all going to be one guessing game.”

“It would have been helpful to know which has which though…” Kageyama said. “Since we know that the person with the fear is the one we have to look out for most. The person with memories will probably just have nightmares.”

“Um… Sugawara-san?” Hinata piped up. “Is it okay for me to ask which one you have?”

“Me? Well, I had the memories,” Sugawara answered.

“Just like me…” Kageyama mumbled.

“Yup! That’s right,” Sugawara nodded. “It was very hard to deal with it at first and they were super annoying. But they’re gone now so I don’t have to deal with them anymore.”

“What? You found your soulmate already??!” Hinata exclaimed. “Who is it? Are they part of the team?”

“You guessed it. If you really want to know it’s actually…” Sugawara beckoned to the two of them lean in closer. They obeyed and once their senior whispered it into their ears, they backed away in shock.

“Daichi-san! Daichi-san’s your soulmate!!” Hinata yelled.

“Don’t yell so loud!” Kageyama scolded. Sugawara chuckled at the two of them.

“It’s alright. The whole team knows about it anyway.”

“How long have you two known that you were soulmates?” Hinata asked curiously.

“Well we met here in our freshman year. I knew right away that it was him but it had taken Daichi quite a while to realize it though. Even though he didn’t know it, he still fell quite hard for me,” Sugawara grinned and winked.

“That’s so cool!” Hinata exclaimed.

“Eventually I got tired of us skirting around each other so I just went up and kissed him in our junior year. And it worked, we found out we were each other’s soulmates.”

“That’s pretty brave…” Kageyama remarked.

“It was…” Sugawara smiled softly and nodded. “But I guess that’s kind of what it means to be soulmates. You have to be brave for each other, despite all the things you’re going through.” He looked up at both Hinata and Kageyama listening to him attentively. He smiled at them and mussed their hair.

“Well, the two of you are still pretty young so you have a lot to go through,” he said. “Just enjoy what you can enjoy for now. You guys are allowed to go to the training camp, right? I already made a few arrangements. Our departure time will be much earlier in the afternoon so we’ll probably be in the training camp by late afternoon.”

“Ahh… that’s a relief,” Hinata sighed. “Thanks Sugawara-san.”

“It was no trouble,” Sugawara answered. “Also, for the sleeping arrangements, I’ve arranged for you to sleep in the same room as Ennoshita, Daichi, and Asahi. The room will be dimly lit and your roommates don’t mind sleeping with the lights on. Kageyama, you’ll be sharing a room with me, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. We can both watch over the two of them there. The rest of the team will sleep in one room.”

“But, I might bother you all if I wake up in the middle of the night,” Kageyama said.

“Then don’t hesitate to wake me up if you need someone,” Sugawara said, smiling gently. “It’s alright if you do, I’ve been through the same problems as you so I’ll understand. And besides, I’m quite used to being woken up in the middle of the night due to these things. Both Tanaka and Nishinoya have the memories too. Don’t be surprised if they come to our room in the middle of the night.”

“Really? Tanaka-senpai and Nishinoya-senpai have the memories?” Hinata echoed.

“Yeah. They actually scream quite loud sometimes so bring earplugs if you want to. The rest of the team is pretty used to it though,” Sugawara shrugged. “But you two have nothing to worry about.”

“Man, I wish Yamaguchi and Tsukishima knew about this,” Hinata groaned. “Maybe they’ll change their minds about not telling you about it and decide to open up.”

“Well, I can try talking to them again before the trip,” Sugawara offered. “Hopefully they’ll listen to reason.”

“Well actually…” Kageyama spoke up. “When we told them about it, only Tsukishima was against it. Yamaguchi argued with him about it and said something like ‘Don’t worry, we can trust them.’”

“Oh right!” Hinata nodded, smacking a fist against the palm of his hand. “And then Tsukishima got pretty mad at him and everything. He even called Yamaguchi ‘Tadashi’ and everything.”

“Hmm… Maybe Tsukishima has a reason to not trust us because of something that happened before…” Sugawara mused. “And it seems to me that he won’t be sharing that information anytime soon.”

“Try not in a million years,” Kageyama pointed out.

“That’s true,” Sugawara chuckled. “But he’ll have to tell us sometime, before anything bad happens.”

…

The day of the training camp finally arrived and Hinata practically sprang out of the bed once his alarm clock rang. After changing his clothes and eating breakfast quickly, he dragged the duffel bag he had packed last night and headed for the door. He was already on his bicycle and about to ride it to school when his mother called.

“Wait! Shouyo! You forgot your lunch again!” She ran out of the house carrying his wrapped up bento box with her.

“Oops! Thanks for reminding me, Mom…” he grinned sheepishly as he took it from her.

“You’re really excited for this, huh?” she grinned, placing her hands on her hips.

“Yup! It’s my first ever training camp! I can’t wait to practice volleyball all day!”

“Well, take care of yourself, okay? I’ll be worrying over you for the next few days.”

“I’ll be fine, Mom,” Shouyo smiled reassuringly. “The seniors there will take care of me.”

“Well, I’m glad,” she said, returning the smile. “Have a great trip.” She kissed both of his cheeks and mussed up his hair a bit.

“I will! Bye Mom!” Shouyo waved before pedaling to school.

…

**Kageyama**

Kageyama didn’t bother telling his parents about the training camp anymore. A note that he left on the kitchen table was the only notification that he gave them before he left. But he didn’t mind it too much anymore, he was only looking forward to spending the next few days with the team in the training camp. The incomplete quick that he and Hinata were still practicing was a nagging thought in his mind and he worried about it throughout the whole morning.

“Hey Kageyama! Kageyama!” Hinata yelled, announcing his presence as he ran into the classroom only a few seconds after the dismissal bell rang. Kageyama groaned but he couldn’t stop the small smile from spreading across his face. Even when all of his classmates turned to look at him when Hinata stood over his desk.

“Yeah, I know,” he sighed as he stood up, carrying his packed duffel bag on his shoulder.

“The bus is there already! Come on! Let’s go!” Hinata exclaimed. He was shaking with excitement and he pulled Kageyama’s arm as they walked to the bus.

“Did you really have to come into my classroom yelling?” Kageyama asked as he let himself be pulled down the stairs.

“Yup!” Hinata turned around flashing him a grin. “And you better get used to it too. Because I’ll be doing that quite a lot.”

“Dumbass Hinata,” Kageyama muttered with a smile on his face. When the two of them reached the bus only Takeda-sensei, Coach Ukai, and Kiyoko-san were there. She gave them a short nod when the two of them came and ticked off two names from her list.

“Are you alright, Ukai-san?” Takeda-sensei asked when their coach let out a huge yawn.

“Huh? Oh I’m fine,” Coach Ukai said, brushing it off with a wave. “Just a little sleep-deprived. I’ve been working on my family’s farm early in the morning alongside my job in the convenience store.”

“Is that so?” Takeda-sensei echoed with concern written all over his face. “Maybe you should take a rest, it’s not good to be sleep-deprived and you’re already doing so much for the team. If you like, I could be the one to drive us.”

“Ah, really? That would be great, thanks,” Coach Ukai said. He spotted Kageyama and Hinata standing by the bus behind Takeda-sensei and grinned.

“Hey! You two are here pretty early,” he said. Hinata and Kageyama raised their heads in attention. “Well what are you two waiting for? Get in the bus already.”

“Ah! Right!” Hinata exclaimed. He walked up to the side of the bus and turned around to face Kageyama. “You’re sitting beside me, right?” he said excitedly.

“Me?” Kageyama stopped in his tracks, mulling over what Hinata just said. ‘He wants me to sit beside him? Throughout the whole trip?’ he said to himself.

“Uh, you don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Hinata smiled sheepishly. “I just thought that you’d like to sit beside someone instead of sitting alone.”

“Ah, is that so…” Kageyama felt his cheeks turn slightly warm and he turned his head to the side to somehow prevent Hinata from seeing the growing smile on his face. “Sure, I’ll sit with you,” he said, trying to sound as nonchalant about it as possible.

“Great!” Hinata said brightly. “I mean, you’d really look pitiful if you were sitting alone. You’d be all hunched over and brooding with that constipated expression on your face a— Ow!” Kageyama interrupted him by chopping him over the head and Hinata looked up with a pout on his face.

“Maybe I shouldn’t sit with you after all…” Kageyama said stoically as he climbed on the bus.

“Hey Kageyama! I was joking! Joking!” Hinata called as he followed him into the bus.

…

“Hey Hinata,” Yamaguchi said, turning around in his seat in front of Hinata to look at them. The team had already boarded the bus and were well on their way to the place where the training camp was. The bus was filled with the sounds of the Karasuno volleyball team members talking to each other, with the occasional yelling from Nishinoya and Tanaka that Daichi silenced with just one look. Yamaguchi reached into his duffel bag and pulled out a few manga volumes, waving them in the air in front of Hinata. “I brought volumes ten to twelve.”

“Awesome Yamaguchi!” Hinata exclaimed as he gratefully took the manga volumes from him. “I’m so glad you brought them! I can’t wait to read what happens next!” he said, standing up in his seat and hanging onto the back of Yamaguchi’s seat for support.

“Right?!” Yamaguchi grinned back. “You’ll definitely love what happens in volume ten. And after, you should watch the anime.”

“I’ll definitely watch it! I bet the fight scenes look even cooler in the anime!” Hinata said, standing on his tiptoes. Kageyama bit his lip to stop himself from smiling when Hinata began to describe the fight scene between Colonel Mustang and the homunculus Lust using different sound effects with his mouth like ‘Gyahhh!’ and ‘Ffooosshhh!’ Suddenly, the bus lurched forward as it drove over a hump in the road making Hinata lurch forward as well, bumping his forehead against Yamaguchi’s.

“Oi, sit down will you? Before you go flying to the front of the bus in the next hump,” Tsukishima growled.

“I’m holding on tightly, see?” Hinata pouted. Suddenly, the bus drove another, even bigger, hump in the road sending Hinata lurching forward and then right smack into Kageyama sitting behind him.

“Tch, told you so,” Tsukishima smirked, looking down at the two of them. Hinata, with his head against Kageyama’s chin and the rest of his body thrown over the setter, and Kageyama, who looked completely surprised by what just happened. Hinata turned around and flashed him a sheepish smile.

“Ehehe… Nice catch?” he said.

“Get off,” Kageyama said quickly as he felt his neck and face start to heat up.

“Wait, you’re turning red Kageyama. Are you okay? Do you have a fever or something?” Hinata frowned.

“No, it’s fine. Just get off please,” Kageyama pleaded.

“See, you’re completely red now.” Hinata reached up a hand to feel Kageyama’s forehead. “Geez, and you’re burning up too. Are you sure you’re—“

“JUST GET OFF!”

…

**Hinata**

True to Sugawara’s word, the bus arrived at the training camp just before the sun started to set. The team got off the bus one by one once it parked right in front of a huge gymnasium. Hinata dashed towards it excitedly once he got down to admire its size.

“Whoa…” he exclaimed as he stood in front of the entrance. “It’s probably three times bigger than our gym back at school.”

“You’re right about that,” Tanaka grinned, walking up behind Hinata and thumping him on the back. “And it’s all ours for the next few days.”

“I can’t wait! Can we practice now? Can we?” Hinata begged, jumping up and down on his feet.

“Of course! That’s what we’re here for!” Nishinoya answered, standing behind Hinata.

“Really Nishinoya-senpai?” Hinata asked, gazing right into Nishinoya’s eyes as he turned to look at him. The older boy felt a swell of pride at the sound of the word ‘senpai.’

“Hinata…” he said seriously, placing a hand on Hinata’s shoulder. “As your senpai, I am… allowing you use this gym right now!” he cried, throwing open the door of the gym at the same time.

“Gwahhh! So cool!” Hinata exclaimed.

“Use it as much as you want,” Nishinoya smirked.

“Alright! Let’s practice Hinata! Noya!” Tanaka yelled.

“Shut up! Practice starts tomorrow!” Daichi scolded, taking hold of Tanaka and Hinata’s shirt collars just before they ran into the gym. Meanwhile, Tsukishima snickered as he watched the scene unfold.

“Idiots…”

…

“Ahhh! That felt so good!” Hinata sighed, stretching out on the futon underneath him. After Daichi announced that practice started tomorrow, he was slightly disappointed about not being able to play in his first day at training camp. But that disappointment soon faded away after a hearty meal with his teammates that Kiyoko-san and Takeda-sensei cooked. Hinata, Nishinoya, Tanaka, and Kageyama, much to Hinata’s surprise, ate cup after cup of rice with their pork curry. Tsukishima merely rolled his eyes in disgust at the four of them. After dinner, they headed to the showers where Hinata had a nice, long bath.

“Well you sound pretty happy,” Ennoshita said. He was seated on his futon which was just across Hinata’s.

“Yeah,” Hinata sighed again. “It’s my first training camp after all,” he grinned.

“Is that so? Well, this is probably my fourth or fifth time in one. I always feel excited whenever we have one,” Ennoshita smiled. He stretched his legs out on top of his futon and leaned back on his arms.

“Yeah. I’m even more excited about tomorrow. We finally get to use the huge gym!”

“That’s right,” Ennoshita chuckled.

“Um, Ennoshita-san, can I ask you something?” Hinata asked shyly, fingering the edges of his pillowcase.

“Sure,” Ennoshita shrugged.

“You have a fear of heights, right?” Hinata asked. He had learned the information from Sugawara earlier when he explained why their room was on the first floor.

“Yeah, I do…” Ennoshita said, smiling shyly.

“Do you sometimes feel like… it burdens the team or something? Especially when we have these training camps and everything?”

“Well, at first I thought that it did,” Ennoshita confessed, looking down at his hands as he said it. “Especially since I could hardly climb up a set of stairs. But the team really helped me out with it. Whenever we have a training camp, Sugawara-san always makes sure that the rooms are on the ground floor. Daichi-san even helps me when it comes to learning how to climb up stairs. The first time he made me do it, he wrapped a blindfold around my eyes so that I wouldn’t look down and realize how high I was.”

“Daichi-san and Sugawara-san are just like the parents of the team,” Hinata laughed.

“Exactly! Everyone on the team seems to think so. Even Asahi-san,” Ennoshita chuckled. The two of them suddenly looked up when the door opened and Daichi and Asahi stepped in.

“Ah, thank goodness you guys are here already,” Daichi sighed with relief once he spotted the two of them. “I know Suga gave you guys the room number but I guess I was still worried that Hinata might have wandered off somewhere.”

“The lights in the hallway will be turned off soon Hinata so if you need to get anything or go to the bathroom now’s your chance,” Asahi smiled once he walked over to his futon.

“I’m alright, thanks Asahi-san,” Hinata grinned.

“Are the curtains alright with you, Hinata?” Daichi asked as he walked over to the window which was covered with probably three sets of curtains.

“I’ll turn on the lamps,” Ennoshita offered, standing up and walking over to the three lamps placed in the room.

“The curtains are alright, Daichi-san,” Hinata answered. Daichi smiled and settled down in his futon. Ennoshita went back to his once he turned on all the lamps.

“I’ll be turning off the lights now, if that’s alright,” Asahi said. Hinata nodded and lay down in his futon with the blankets pulled up to his chest. Asahi turned off the light and settled down in his futon beside Ennoshita.

“Wake us up if you need anything, Hinata,” Daichi said. Hinata smiled as he sighed contentedly. ‘See Mom,’ he said to himself. ‘I told you they’ll take good care of me…’

“Thanks you guys,” Hinata whispered before finally falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked it! Don't worry, the story's about to get real pretty soon...


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata and Kageyama finally work out their quick together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! I know I haven't updated in some time but here's a new chapter and it ended up being much longer than I initially planned it out to be. I received so many comments and hits and kudos from the last one so I want to thank you all for that. Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter even though it's a little late.

**Kageyama**

Fortunately, Kageyama didn’t have any dreams that night and slept quite peacefully. However when he opened his eyes in the morning he was greeted with the sleeping face of Tanaka only a few inches from his own. He clapped a hand over his mouth to keep himself from screaming. Kageyama took a few deep breaths to calm himself down from the sight and decided to turn around instead. But once he did, he came face to face with Nishinoya who had an arm thrown over Kageyama’s pillow.

‘Geez, is this what Sugawara-san meant by the two of them coming over at night?’ he thought as he sat up in his futon. ‘Why did I have to be the one in the middle of them?’ He looked over at Sugawara who was still peacefully asleep in the futon beside his despite the fact that half of Nishinoya was under his blanket.

Kageyama stretched and yawned, glancing at the wall clock in the room to see that it was already 6 am. ‘Still pretty early,’ he thought. Yamaguchi and Tsukishima’s futons were empty meaning that they were already awake. Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Sugawara were still deep asleep and didn’t look as if they were going to wake up at any moment. ‘Well, I don’t think I’ll be sleeping any time soon either,’ he thought. He tried to fix his futon up as much as possible with Tanaka and Nishinoya’s bodies draped over it before leaving the room. As he closed the door as silently as possible he heard a voice behind him.

“Morning, Kageyama.”

Kageyama turned around to see Tsukishima and Yamaguchi sitting on the floor with their backs to the wall right in front of the door. Yamaguchi had his phone on and was probably playing a game before he greeted Kageyama. Tsukishima took the phone from his hands and began continuing the game.

“Morning…” Kageyama responded as he decided to sit beside Yamaguchi.

“Did you sleep well last night?” he asked.

“Mmm… yeah actually. No dreams or anything.”

“Really? You didn’t even hear Tanaka or Nishinoya yelling or coming into the room?” Yamaguchi asked in surprise. “I thought that there were ghosts or something…”

“Not really,” Kageyama shook his head. “I sleep pretty deeply whenever I don’t have any dreams.”

“That must be nice,” Yamaguchi smiled. “Then it must have been quite a surprise for you to wake up and find the two of them sleeping beside you.”

“Yeah, it felt like more of a traumatic experience to see Tanaka-senpai’s sleeping face up close once I woke up…” Kageyama deadpanned. “And they were both on either side of me so when I turned around I had to come face to face with Nishinoya-senpai…”

“Well, idiots do attract idiots after all,” Tsukishima commented and smirked without looking up from his game.

“Oi! You better not be calling Sugawara-san and idiot!” Kageyama growled angrily. Beside him, Yamaguchi snickered.

“Why do I even try?” Tsukishima sighed.

“What did you say?!”

…

Pretty soon, the rest of the team started to wake up and they all gathered at the cafeteria for breakfast which had also been prepared by Takeda-sensei and Kiyoko-san, much to Tanaka and Nishinoya’s delight. Just like last night, Kageyama sat at the same table as the two of them along with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. Hinata was the last two join them at the table.

“Morning everyone,” he grinned, taking the seat next to Kageyama. His tray was piled high with fried rice and eggs and slices of toast. Kageyama noticed how wild his hair looked in the morning and resisted the urge to pat it down.

“Morning Hinata!” Tanaka greeted with a wide grin on his face. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah! The room had some light in it so I wasn’t scared at all,” Hinata said as he split his chopsticks apart and started eating. Kageyama noticed that he decided not to say anything about Tanaka and Nishinoya’s screaming from the night before. ‘Either he didn’t notice it or he did but decided not to talk about it,’ he thought.

“Ahr oo edy for shom trenig Inata??” Nishinoya asked with his mouth full.

 

“Uh… what?” Hinata asked, cocking his head to the side.

“He said ‘Are you ready for some training Hinata?’” Tsukishima translated. “Geez, don’t talk with your mouth full, it’s disgusting,” he sneered.

“Woah, Tsukishima. You could understand that?” Tanaka said in surprise.

“Nice, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi smiled, flashing him a thumbs-up.

“If you can do that you’ll make a great dentist!” Hinata piped up.

“Tch, as if I want to spend my time poking around people’s mouths,” Tsukishima rolled his eyes.

“That’s what she said…” Nishinoya snickered. Tanaka slung an arm around his shoulder and laughed along with him.

“That’s not what I meant…” Tsukishima said through gritted teeth as his cheeks turned pink.

“Hey! Hey! What’s so funny?!” Hinata asked, not understanding the innuendo that Nishinoya pouted.

“Not for you kid,” Tanaka winked and mussed up Hinata’s hair.

“Not fair, I want to understand why you guys are laughing too,” he pouted.

“I don’t understand why you guys are laughing either,” Kageyama deadpanned.

“Alright, alright. I’ll tell you,” Nishinoya grinned as he beckoned Kageyama and Hinata forward. Suddenly, Kageyama felt a pair of hands slip over his ears and he looked up to see Sugawara standing behind him.

“Not on my watch you won’t,” he said, scolding Tanaka and Nishinoya. “I’m not going to allow these children’s innocence to be lost just yet.”

“Aw, alright then Suga-san,” Tanaka smiled sheepishly. “When you’re older, okay Hinata?”

“Fine…” he pouted.

“But you could tell me about it later,” Sugawara winked, removing his hands from Kageyama’s ears. “When Daichi-san’s not around,” he said, leaning forward and whispering.

“I heard that Suga!” Daichi called, suddenly materializing at the head of the table.

“Crap! Daichi-san’s here!” Nishinoya said, jumping out of his seat.

“Thanks for the food,” Tsukishima and Yamaguchi chorused before picking up their trays and leaving the lunch table with a sense of urgency.

“Now what is it you guys wanted to tell me?” Daichi asked, leaning forward towards Tanaka and Nishinoya with a scary look on his face. Kageyama and Hinata exchanged a single glance before picking up their trays and leaving the lunch table.

…

“Alright, ten minutes of rest before we head into the gym!” Daichi called over his shoulder at the rest of the team jogging behind. 

“Yes!” the rest of the team chorused in response.

“Uwoooo!!!” Hinata yelled as he sprinted forward ahead of them with his arms pumping forward. “I’m gonna make it there first!”

“Oi Hinata! Don’t go ahead of everyone else!” Kageyama called as he sprinted after him with all his might.

“I feel like I’ll be thirty years older by the time this training camp is over,” Daichi sighed as he watched the two first years sprint ahead.

“Hang in there, Captain!” Asahi teased as he jogged beside him.

“You’re already beginning to sound like an old man, Daichi,” Sugawara added, joining the two third years.

“Thanks a lot you two. You guys could at least help me a bit with them,” Daichi smiled and shook his head. The rest of the team finally reached the gym where Hinata and Kageyama were both arguing by the entrance over who was first.

“Baka Kageyama! I was first!” Hinata yelled.

“That’s because you ran ahead, Dumbass Hinata!” Kageyama argued. “If you didn’t have that head start you would have been last!”

“Guys…” Sugawara came between them and put a hand on each of their shoulders. “Daichi’s watching you two…” The two of them instantly stopped their arguing and turned to look at Daichi who had his head cocked to the side and was smiling at them. They gulped and straightened themselves out.

“Thanks for warning us, Sugawara-san…” Kageyama said quietly. Sugawara smiled kindly at the two of them and left.

“Well, well, well. We’ll finally be able to use the gym now, right Noya?” Tanaka said loudly as the two of them headed towards the entrance of the gym.

“That’s right!” Hinata cheered as he followed the two of them. “We can use the super humongous gym now!” The doors at the gym entrance were already open so they simply walked right inside where Takeda-sensei, Coach Ukai, and Kiyoko-san were already waiting. Kageyama followed behind, watching Hinata as he walked around and looked up at the high ceiling of the gym.

“It’s so big!” he exclaimed excitedly as he spread his arms out.

“That’s what she said…” Nishinoya muttered as he elbowed Tanaka who burst into a fit of giggles. Daichi shot them a stern glance to make them stop.

“We’ve got a lot of room practice,” Coach Ukai commented with a grin. “So we better get right to it.” He looked up at the team and motioned them to gather around him. They obeyed and sat cross-legged on the floor of the gym.

“Alright, the practice match with Seijou is on Sunday, two days from now,” Coach Ukai announced as he gazed over them with his arms crossed. “The time we spend here practicing is the perfect opportunity for us to develop new skills and moves and our match with Seijou will help us test those new skills and moves out in a game environment. Because after all,” Coach Ukai looked at everyone and grinned. “We’re headed for the Inter-High competition afterwards, right?”

“Right!” the rest of the team chorused with enthusiasm.

“For now, just do your regular warm-ups and drills. After that we’ll have a short practice match where I will be observing your skills so far. And then we’ll have some time for you guys to do some practice on stuff you need to improve. Kageyama and Hinata…”

“Yes!” Hinata answered.

“I will be seeing your quick then at that time,” Coach Ukai said.

“Y-yes, Coach Ukai,” Hinata swallowed and nodded, casting a glance at Kageyama.

“We’ll be ready…” Kageyama said.

…

“Geez, we really need to work on that quick,” Hinata groaned as he picked up a volleyball and placed it inside one of the baskets set up near the net.

“You were able to hit them this time, weren’t you? And they went over the net too,” Kageyama replied as he packed away a few of the volleyballs. The team had just finished their practice match which ended with a win on Kageyama and Hinata’s team. Kageyama made sure to make his toss slower enough for Hinata to catch up to and spike. He didn’t want his morale to decrease anytime soon.

“Yeah but… we weren’t as fast as before. When it was just the two of us practicing alone in the gym. The tosses you made were more ‘Gyuuun!’” Hinata replied. Kageyama looked down at the ball in his hands.

“Yeah,” he nodded in agreement. “They weren’t as fast. But at least you could still hit them.”

“Kageyama…” Hinata spoke up as he walked forward to stand in front of him. He looked up at the taller setter and stared at him squarely in the eyes. “Are you, holding back on me?”

“I…” Kageyama swallowed, unable to look away from Hinata’s intense gaze. His brown eyes were wide and serious as they stared up at him.

“Are you tossing slower just so that I’ll be able to spike it?” Hinata asked again. Kageyama sighed and looked away.

“During the practice match… I was worried that you’ll get too frustrated if you weren’t able to do the quick properly. So I thought that…”

“Baka!” Hinata exclaimed and raised a hand to chop Kageyama on the head.

“Ouch! What the Hell was that for?!” Kageyama yelled and rubbed the aching spot on his head.

“What makes you think that I haven’t learned anything from what we practiced together? I’m more than capable to spike your tosses. And besides, the team needs this quick as a weapon and so we’ll definitely not make it a half-assed weapon,” Hinata said. Kageyama could see the determination burning brightly behind his eyes.

“Kageyama, Hinata!” Coach Ukai called from behind them. The two of them turned around to see their Coach towing a grumpy Tsukishima along with him. “Do you have your quick ready?” he asked.

“We sure do!” Hinata replied confidently. “But why is Tsukishima here with us?”

“This guy needs to practice his receives so I thought that it would be perfect if he could train by receiving your quicks,” Coach Ukai grinned, patting Tsukishima on the back. He turned away and scowled.

“So I guess even Tsukishima has his weak points,” Hinata grinned teasingly at him.

“Whatever. Let’s see if you guys can really do a quick or not,” Tsukishima grumbled.

“Alright, we’ll show him. Right Kageyama?” Hinata said, turning to Kageyama.

“Yeah,” he nodded, a smirk spreading on his face. Hinata’s words from earlier sparked some determination inside of him. “We’ll show you what we’ve been practicing on.”

“Alright, let’s get to it then,” Coach Ukai said, as he rubbed his hands and stepped away from the court. Hinata turned to Kageyama, mouth set in a firm line and eyes ablaze.

“Don’t hold back, Kageyama.”

…

“I see the problem here,” Coach Ukai mused as soon as Kageyama and Hinata finished their quick. “Kageyama’s toss is pretty fast and Hinata, you can barely seem to reach it in time to spike it over the net.”

“I could toss it slower…” Kageyama offered.

“Nope, you don’t need to change the speed it all,” Coach Ukai shook his head. “In fact, it’s the perfect speed to assure that the ball can’t be received by the other team. What I think we should change is the timing of the toss.”

“Timing?” Hinata asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Yeah,” their coach nodded. “Kageyama, you make the toss once you see Hinata come up to the net, right?”

“That’s right,” Kageyama answered.

“Well that would make the volleyball reach the top of the net before Hinata has the chance to hit it at its maximum height.”

Woah, that’s right… I never really saw it that way…” Hinata said.

“I see…” Kageyama nodded. “So maybe I could make the toss once Hinata jumps already. However that means he has to run faster to reach the net.”

“Yeah, it will be quite a challenge for both of you. But I’m sure Hinata can manage that speed, right Hinata?” Coach grinned, turning to Hinata.

“Yes! I’ll do my best!” he said enthusiastically.

“Also, this may be asking a lot from you Kageyama, but do you think you can specifically target the area where Hinata will spike?”

“Yeah, I’ll try,” Kageyama said firmly before turning to Hinata. “All you have to do is make it to the net on time and jump. I’ll make sure to send it to you.”

“Right,” Hinata nodded. “And I’ll send your toss to the other side. You can count on me to do that.”

“Alright,” Coach Ukai grinned. “Let’s try it out.” Hinata ran towards a corner in the back of the court while Kageyama positioned himself near the net. Coach Ukai stood outside the court holding a volleyball. “Hey Tsukishima, try receiving or blocking those quicks if you can,” he called towards Tsukishima on the other side of the court.

“Yeah,” he answered as he positioned himself by the net.

“Ready?” Coach Ukai asked. Kageyama and Hinata nodded in response. Their coach blew the whistle and tossed the ball towards Kageyama. He spotted Hinata dashing towards the net out of the corner of his eye. Kageyama sucked in a deep breath when he felt the strength of his presence. He felt the volleyball on his fingertips and as soon as Hinata jumped, he targeted his hand and tossed the ball.

 

…

 

**Hinata**

Hinata heard the sound of the ball hit the floor of the gym even before he felt the sting of it on his palm from when he spiked it down. The four of them stared at the ball as it bounced a few times before rolling to a stop. Hinata looked up at Kageyama who slowly turned to look at him.

“Hey…” he began.

“I SPIKED IT!” HInata cried out as he threw his hands in the air. “I SPIKED IT I SPIKED IT. I REALLY SPIKED IT!”

“That toss was perfect…” Kageyama mumbled as he looked at his own hands. Hinata jumped up and down excitedly before crashing in towards Kageyama who was still standing and staring at his hands. The two of them came tumbling down with Hinata on top, laughing his head off.

“Kageyama! We did it!” he grinned.

“Dumbass Hinata! Get off!” Kageyama yelled from underneath before pushing him off.

“Geez, you two will break your necks even before the match,” Coach Ukai sighed as he walked over to them. He scratched the back of his head and smiled down at the two of them.

“At least there’ll be less noise if that happened,” Tsukishima muttered as he picked up the ball from the other side of the court.

“Good job you two, really,” Coach Ukai said, offering each of them a hand to help them stand up.

“Let’s do it again, Kageyama!” Hinata said excitedly. “Let’s practice it!”

“Alright!” Kageyama nodded.

“Keep it up you two,” Coach Ukai grinned. “But I have to talk to the other team members now. Have Tsukishima toss for you.”

“Thank you, Tsukishima!” Kageyama and Hinata bowed in unison towards his direction.

“H-Hey! I didn’t agree this!” Tsukishima protested.

“One toss please!” Hinata called out as he headed out to a corner in the volleyball court.

“Why do I even bother?” Tsukishima sighed before getting in position to toss to Kageyama.

…

“Hey Kageyama, wanna go grab a drink from the vending machine outside?” Hinata asked as he stood up and threw his face towel around his neck. Practice was over and the rest of the team had collapsed on the floor of the gym with their water bottles. Except for Tanaka and Nishinoya who were still practicing spikes and receives.

“Sure,” Kageyama nodded, standing up and following behind the short spiker as they headed out the gym. Hinata kept looking down at his right hand which was bright red and still stinging from all the spikes that he did earlier. ‘This feels so great…’ he gushed as he imagined how the quick was going to turn out in the practice match against Seijoh in a few days. ‘We’ll definitely win for sure!’

Finally, the two of them reached the vending machine which was just a little ways ahead from the gym. Hinata scanned the available drinks before finally choosing a can of orange juice. He put some coins in and pressed the button before getting the can of juice as it rolled out from underneath.

“Ahhh… That feels good…” Hinata sighed as he held the cool can in his stinging hand.

“Don’t tell me you wanted to get a drink just for that,” Kageyama rolled his eyes as he stood in front of the vending machine.

“Of course not! Drinking a cold drink after some tough practice is one of the best things ever,” Hinata stated. And to make his point, he popped open the top of the can and took a long drink from it. “Ahh… That felt great,” he grinned. “What are you getting?”

“Hmm… I’m still choosing…” Kageyama muttered as his eyes went over the selection of drinks. ‘He’s doing that face again…’ Hinata thought as he watched his friend.

“Is it really that hard to choose a drink?” he asked, leaning against the vending machine. “It looks as if you’re making a decision that affects the human race. See, you have that constipated expression on your face again.”

“I do not have a constipated expression on my face,” Kageyama argued, turning to look at Hinata with the said expression on his face. Finally, he chose a yogurt drink and got it from the vending machine. The two of them leaned against the machine, silently enjoying their drinks until Kageyama spoke up.

“Shouldn’t we be heading back right now?” he asked, pointing a finger towards the sky. Hinata cocked his head to the side as he noticed that it was already sunset and the sky was slowly darkening.

“Hmmm… Yeah but I want to stay here a little longer,” he said, shaking his head.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Hinata smiled and looked up at the sky. “I love sunsets after all. It’s a shame that I can’t really fully enjoy them because, you know…” he shrugged.

“Is that why you always go home just before dark?” Kageyama guessed.

“That’s right,” Hinata nodded. “I guess it’s kind of ironic that I do like them because of the whole darkening of the sky and everything.”

“So why do you like them?” Kageyama asked, looking at Hinata curiously. He smiled and shrugged.

“It’s hard to explain but whenever I see the sun during a sunset, it looks really far and out of reach. And it kind of reminds me of this impossible dream I once had.” Hinata leaned back into the vending machine and placed his hands in his pockets. He couldn’t see Kageyama but he knew that he was quietly listening and waiting for him to continue.

“I wanted to play volleyball ever since I saw the Little Giant play a match on TV,” Hinata continued. “When I saw him the first thing I thought was ‘Why is he a spiker in a volleyball team when he’s so short?’ But then once he started playing, it looked as if he was flying whenever he jumped up to spike a ball. It just looked so cool!

“So after that, I decided to start playing volleyball. I wanted to see how the court looked like from above the net. I wanted to prove to everyone that even though I was short, I could still fly. But I guess I kind of blew that chance back when I was in middle school,” he smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

“But it’s really not that impossible right now,” Kageyama said. “You’re here now with a good team on your side. And you have me to help do that killer quick of ours.” Hinata looked at Kageyama and smiled at him.

“That’s right, I guess that impossible dream isn’t so impossible now,” he laughed and looked down. “You know…” Hinata said almost shyly. “You’re the first person I’ve told this about.”

“Really?” Kageyama asked. Hinata could hear the surprise in his voice. “You seem to trust me quite a lot.”

“Why wouldn’t I? You’re my teammate and friend, you know,” he grinned, lightly punching Kageyama on the shoulder.

“That’s the first time I’ve heard those words too…” he said softly. “You know, I think I really like sunsets now too…”

When Hinata tilted his head up to look at him he felt his eyes widen at the sight. Kageyama was looking straight ahead at the sunset in front of him with a soft smile on his lips. Hinata rarely ever saw Kageyama smile and he never saw a smile just like the one he was seeing right now. It wasn’t a very big smile, but even his eyes looked as if they were smiling as well.  ‘I never thought Kageyama could be this…’ Hinata searched his mind for words but none seemed to match what he just saw. He could feel his heart skip a beat and he swallowed hard.

“We should be heading back already, Hinata,” Kageyama said, turning to look at him. Hinata turned away quickly.

“Y-Yeah, we should,” he nodded quickly. ‘Crap, did he catch me staring?’ he panicked mentally. Kageyama threw his milk carton in the trash can and began to walk back to the gym with Hinata following behind.

‘What is happening to me?’

 

…

 

**Kageyama**

After eating dinner and taking a good, long shower, Kageyama made his way back to the room that he shared with Sugawara, Tsukishima, and Yamaguchi. None of them were inside when he entered. Kageyama decided to lay out his futon and blankets before going to close the window. Outside, the sky was dark and studded with dozens of tiny stars. He paused for a while to stare up at them as he recalled the conversation he had with Hinata.

_‘You’re the first person I’ve told this about.’_

Kageyama felt his chest flutter at the memory as a small, contented smile came upon his face. His feelings ever since he met Hinata became even more jumbled up the more he knew about him. He knew that he liked him a lot, he was sure of that now. But a bunch of ‘what if’ questions continued to fill his head. There was still a chance that all of Kageyama’s feelings were only one-sided. And what would happen to him if he found out that it wasn’t Hinata after all.

‘Crap, this is really messed up,’ Kageyama groaned. He looked up at the sky as if searching for an answer that only the stars knew. ‘Impossible dream, huh?’ he thought as he looked at the stars. They too seemed far away and impossible to reach, and there were so many of them too. Kageyama sighed and closed the window before going back to his futon.

‘I don’t even know what my dream is.’

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for the next chapter! Some insight on Tsukishima and Yamaguchi will be revealed...


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata and Yamaguchi go missing and Tsukishima and Kageyama find them in the worst place possible...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *wipes sweat off brow* Phew! Well, that's done. Hope you all enjoy this chapter! I'll be taking a break for now since I've been uploading new chapters each for the past four days. In case you guys didn't know, I'm also writing a Free! fanfic featuring NagisaxRei (my favorite ship there) also a collection of Haikyuu! drabbles. Go and check those out if you guys are interested~~

**Kageyama**

This time, Kageyama woke up with a nightmare. He saw himself in a poorly dug trench with dirt and bullets raining all around him. All he could hear was the sound of soldiers yelling out orders or screaming in pain. He feels something heavy in his hands and looks down to see a rifle. Before he has a chance to react, he’s pulled away into another memory

Now, all he sees is darkness. There’s something held tightly in his hand and he realizes that it’s a piece of paper. He feels tears running down his face and dripping on the piece of paper. Has he lost someone? Kageyama doesn’t know. He only feels himself sinking down to his knees, the sounds of a woman crying echoing in his ears.

And then he wakes up.

…

“Kageyama! Kageyama wake up!”

Kageyama opened his eyes with a sharp gasp. Suddenly, he was back in the room he shared with his teammates in the training camp. He blinked a few times until the concerned face of Sugawara materialized itself more clearly in his view. He was sitting next to Kageyama and his hands gripped his shoulders tightly.

“Sugawara… san?” Kageyama said slowly.

“You were groaning and shaking in your sleep,” Sugawara sighed and relaxed his grip on Kageyama.

“Sorry, did I wake you up? What time is it?” he asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. The sky outside was still quite dark but Kageyama could tell that dawn was about to arrive.

“Its 5:30 am,” Sugawara answered after checking the watch on his wrist. “Still quite early.”

“Sorry for waking you up,” Kageyama apologized.

“It’s alright, I can go back to sleep pretty quickly. You should too.”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep again after this,” Kageyama shook his head.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Sugawara asked gently.

“No thanks, I think I’ll just go for a walk a bit to clear my head. Sorry again for waking you up,” Kageyama said, standing up quickly to leave the room.

“Don’t be late for breakfast,” Sugawara called after him.

 

…

 

**Hinata**

“Hey, where’s Kageyama?” Hinata asked, standing up from his seat in the table to look around the cafeteria.

“Who knows? Maybe he’s practicing his tosses or something?” Tanaka shrugged as he began to eat his breakfast.

“What?? Without me?” Hinata cried and began to eat his breakfast quickly.

“Relax, he won’t practice without you,” Tsukishima rolled his eyes.

“Yeah,” Yamaguchi nodded in agreement. “Look, here he comes now,” he said, pointing at the doorway of the cafeteria where Kageyama just entered. Hinata turned to look and sure enough, there was Kageyama. His hair was a mess and there was a dazed, unfocused look in his eyes. Sugawara stopped him on the way to their table and placed a hand on his shoulder. The two exchanged a few words before Sugawara let him go.

“Morning, Kageyama,” Hinata greeted as he placed his tray in the spot beside him and sat down.

“Morning…” he mumbled, not bothering to look up. The whole table was silent except for the sounds of people eating their food.

“I’m gonna… go get ready for practice,” Tanaka spoke up as he stood up. “Wanna come, Noya?”

“Yeah, see you guys later,” Nishinoya and stood up as well. Before leaving, he turned to look at Hinata nudged his head over in Kageyama’s direction. Once they left, Hinata cleared his throat and turned to Kageyama.

“Hey,” he said softly, nudging his elbow. “Are you alright?”

“Hmm? Yeah, I’m fine,” Kageyama nodded as he poked at his food. He looked incredibly tired and his eyes looked as if they were sunken in. ‘He had a dream again…’ Hinata guessed as he looked at him. A part of him wanted to make Kageyama open up about it so that he could tell him. If Hinata knew then maybe he could find a way to help. And Kageyama was his friend, wasn’t he?

“I’ll see you guys later,” he said suddenly, standing up and carrying the tray with him. Hinata sighed, knowing that Kageyama was choosing to remain distant. He decided to just give him some space for now.

“Hey Kageyama!” Hinata called out after him.

“Yeah?” he said, turning around.

“Let’s talk later, okay?” Hinata said. Kageyama stared at him for a while before turning around again and walking away.

“Sure,” he answered.

…

Kageyama seemed out of it throughout practice that morning. He was either distracted while staring out into space, or incredibly focused on volleyball that he didn’t notice anyone else. Only Sugawara seemed to really understand what was going on but the rest of the team kind of got the hint. ‘At least he’s still pretty concentrated on making his tosses and serves right,’ Hinata said to himself as he and Kageyama nailed a perfect quick.

“Wow, that was really awesome,” Sugawara exclaimed, walking up to them as soon as Hinata landed.

“Yeah, I didn’t think it would be that fast,” Daichi said, smiling at them proudly.

“Alright! We’ll destroy Seijoh for sure!!!” Tanaka yelled, thumping Hinata on the back.

“It’s just a practice match. There’s no need to get that riled up about it,” Tsukishima muttered.

“Well, it definitely took some time but these two worked it out pretty well,” Coach Ukai grinned. “It’s getting a bit late but after your cool down, let’s all meet in the cafeteria for a strategy meeting. We won’t just be using the quick in our games, understand? Each and every one of you has a role to contribute in all of this.”

“Yes!” the rest of the team chorused.

…

“Geez, where is it?” Hinata muttered as he searched the gym for his lost water bottle. “I remember placing it here somewhere…” He bent down to look behind one of the benches against the wall and found his bright yellow water bottle wedged behind one of the bench legs.

“Ah! Found it!” he smiled, reaching for it.

“I-Is anyone there?”

Hinata stood up abruptly and felt the hairs of his neck stand up once he heard the voice. His water bottle fell to the floor and rolled to a stop as it hit the wall. The voice he just heard seemed to come from inside the storage room where all the volleyball equipment was packed up.

“Hello?” the voice said again and Hinata felt himself jump up in shock.

“A g-ghost?” he stuttered, shaking from head to toe. “A-are you g-going to possess me? B-because I know this guy who’s much t-taller and he’s blonde too…”

“Hinata? Is that you? It’s me, Yamaguchi,” the voice said.

“Yamaguchi?” Hinata blinked and then sighed in relief. He walked inside the storage room which was dimly lit because of the large window near the ceiling. The door automatically slid shut behind him. “Where are you?” he asked, searching the room.

“I-I think I’m in a broom closet to the left of the room. I accidentally locked myself in,” Yamaguchi said, laughing nervously. “Did you just offer Tsukki’s body to a ghost?”

“Please don’t tell him about it,” Hinata begged as he found the broom closet. He reached forward and turned the doorknob. “It’s locked. I can’t open it.”

“Crap… I really need to get out of here…” Yamaguchi said from behind the door. Hinata could hear his voice shaking as he tried to take in deep breaths. ‘This is bad…’ Hinata thought instantly, realizing what was happening just before Yamaguchi said it out loud.

“I have claustrophobia…” he said weakly.

“Alright, just calm down Yamaguchi,” Hinata gulped. “I’ll run quickly to get someone to help. Okay?”

“Please hurry…” Yamaguchi pleaded. Hinata nodded and ran towards the door of the supply room. But when he tried to push the door to slide it open, it wouldn’t budge an inch.

“Shit,” he cursed. He tried pushing harder against the door, leaning his whole body against it.

“Hinata? Is everything alright?” Yamaguchi asked.

“The doors locked…” Hinata replied, gritting his teeth. “I’m so stupid!” He slammed his fists against the door.

“Help! Is anyone there? Help!” he cried.

 

…

 

**Kageyama**

“Alright, we’re about to start,” Coach Ukai announced. The team was assembled in the cafeteria where a chalkboard was also place. “Is anyone else missing?” he asked.

“Hinata and Yamaguchi don’t seem to be here yet,” Sugawara said.

“Speaking of which, where _are_ they?” Daichi added. Kageyama frowned and looked around. They were right, Hinata and Yamaguchi weren’t there yet. He looked out the window and realized with a panic that the sun was setting soon.

“We have to start looking for them,” he spoke up. “It’s almost dark. He could be anywhere.”

“Yeah, we need to find Yamaguchi too,” Sugawara nodded.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Tsukishima stood up abruptly and opened the door, leaving it open as he left and Kageyama hurriedly following after him.

…

“They’re not on the third floor either,” Kageyama said, running down the stairs. Tsukishima cursed in response. “Shouldn’t you know where Yamaguchi is too? I mean, you’re always with him, aren’t you?” he asked.

“Fuck, I know,” Tsukishima growled, slamming his fist against the wall behind him. His usual calm demeanor was now replaced by a panicked expression on his face. Kageyama decided not to push him even further.

“I shouldn’t have let him out of my sight. It’s just like last time…” Tsukishima said through gritted teeth.

“Listen,” Kageyama said, stepping forward and putting a hand on Tsukishima’s shoulder. “We’ll find them, okay? We’ll find both of them.” Outside the window nearby, the sun had already set and the sky was almost completely dark.

“Let’s check the gym,” Kageyama said, heading for the stairs. Tsukishima nodded and followed after him. The two of them ran out of the building, heading straight for the gym.

‘Please be okay Hinata,’ Kageyama silently prayed. ‘Please be okay.’

 

…

 

**Hinata**

“Yamaguchi, hang on okay? They’ll be there soon,” Hinata said, placing his hands on the door as he leaned towards it.

“Hinata… It’s so scary in here… Please help…” Yamaguchi whimpered from inside the closet. Hinata gritted his teeth in frustration and went back to slamming his fists against the door of the storage room.

“Help! Anyone!?” he yelled.

“I need to get out…” Yamaguchi sobbed, pounding his fists weakly against the door. His voice was shaky and Hinata could hear him breathing loudly from where he stood.

“Shit,” he cursed as the weak pounding continued. He walked towards the closet and sat by the door. “Talk to me, okay Yamaguchi? Don’t think about it so much.”

“O-okay… I’ll try,” came the response. Hinata looked up at the window and saw the sky beginning to turn dark. ‘The whole room will be dark soon…’ he realized with a panic. ‘And then it will be even worse…’

“H-hinata?” Yamaguchi asked. “Are you okay out there? Is it dark?”

“N-no, it’s all fine,” Hinata said lightly. “I-I’m alright,” he swallowed and took a few deep breaths. ‘I have to be brave…’ he told himself again and again. ‘I have to be brave for Yamaguchi.’

“Hey… Hinata,” came Yamaguchi’s trembling voice.

“Yeah?” he responded.

“Did you finish the volumes I lent you?”

“Are we really still going to talk about Fullmetal Alchemist now?” Hinata laughed weakly.

“I-it might keep our m-minds of things…” Yamaguchi suggested.

“Okay, let’s do that…” Hinata nodded as the whole room fell into darkness.

…

“H-hello?” Hinata’s voice shook as he called out weakly. “I-is there anyone there?” No response came and Hinata curled up into an even tighter ball by the closet door. The room around him was dark. So dark. He couldn’t even tell if he was blinking or not.

“Yamaguchi..?” he said again but no response came as well. Yamaguchi had been silent for a while now. After screaming weakly a few times. ‘He must have fainted,’ he thought. Hinata couldn’t do anything about it anymore. It was just like that time when he stood in front of his own dark room but this time, it was much worse. The darkness was all around him and help wasn’t within reach like last time. Hinata buried his head in his arms as his body started shaking. Suddenly, he heard Kageyama’s voice.

…

“Hinata! Yamaguchi! Are you here?!”

Hinata raised his head slowly at the sound. “Kageyama..?” he whispered. His mind was jolted out of its previous thoughts, allowing him to think more clearly.

“Hinata! Yamaguchi!”

‘It really is him…’ Hinata said to himself. He could hear the sound of footsteps on the gym floor. ‘Someone’s here! I can call for help!’ He opened his mouth to make a sound but nothing came out. He could barely get air in his lungs to breathe.

“Hinata! Are you here?!”

‘I have to let him know I’m here,’ he said to himself. He braced one hand against the wall and forced his legs to stand up. Using his hand as a guide and a brace against the wall, Hinata slowly made his way to the door. ‘The darkness will swallow you up, Hinata…’ a voice in his head nagged him.

“Shut up,” he growled as he tried to focus on the task at hand. Finally, he reached the storage room door and collapsed against it. His hands were still shaking but he lifted them up nonetheless to hammer against the storage room door.

“H-help…” he cried shakily. “Help…”

 

…

 

**Kageyama**

“Kageyama, they aren’t here. Let’s check somewhere else,” Tsukishima said as he headed towards the exit.

“Wait…” Kageyama held up a hand for him to stop. “I think I hear something…” Tsukishima frowned at him as Kageyama walked towards where he heard the sound.

“Help…”

“There! The storage room,” Kageyama pointed as he headed straight for the door. He leaned his body against it to force it open. “Tsukishima, help me,” he grunted.

“Why did it have to be here of all places?” Tsukishima said, clenching his jaw as he made his way to the door in a matter of seconds. After a few more pushes, the two managed to slide the door open revealing Hinata curled up against the side. He was shaking all over and he looked up when Tsukishima and Kageyama entered.

“Hey Hinata!” Kageyama yelled, rushing over to his friend. He was still shaking uncontrollably but when he looked up at Kageyama he said something.

“Kage…yama… It’s dark…” he mumbled.

“I’ll get you out of here, okay? It’s alright.” Kageyama picked up Hinata in his arms and carried him out of the room, laying him gently on the floor of the gym.

“Yamaguchi’s… in the broom closet…” Hinata said weakly, pointing a finger at the storage room.

“He’s in the broom closet!” Kageyama relayed to Tsukishima who was still searching the storage room.

“Fuck, this is bad,” Tsukishima cursed. “The door’s locked. Helped me break it down!”

“Right,” Kageyama ran back into the storage room where Tsukishima was slamming his shoulder against the door of the broom closet. Kageyama got into position beside him.

“On three,” Tsukishima gasped. “One… Two… Three!” The two of them slammed against the door until it broke open, swinging inwards.

“He fainted… Help me get him out,” Tsukishima ordered. He lifted one of Yamaguchi’s arms onto his shoulder while Kageyama took the other side, together they helped carry the unconscious Yamaguchi out of the storage room and into the gym.

“Tadashi! Tadashi wake up!” Tsukishima yelled as soon as they laid Yamaguchi out on the floor of the gym. Kageyama sat on the floor beside Hinata who was taking slow, deep breaths.

“Is he okay?” he asked weakly, clutching the sleeve of Kageyama’s shirt. “Is Yamaguchi okay?”

“He’s alright. We’re outside now. It’s going to be okay,” Kageyama said gently. Hinata was only trembling slightly now and Kageyama held him close to his chest, both arms wrapped around him.

“Tadashi! Tadashi!” Tsukishima continued to yell as he knelt on the floor beside his unconscious friend.

“Tsu…kki?” Yamaguchi responded weakly. His eyelids fluttered open and Tsukishima lifted him up slightly.

“Tadashi… You’re okay,” he sighed in relief. It was only now that Kageyama noticed that Tsukishima’s hands were shaking as he held his friend.

“You found us… Tsukki,” Yamaguchi smiled weakly.

“I’m sorry, Tadashi,” Tsukishima whispered, bending his head down. “I let you out of my sights, I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. Hey, is Hinata okay?”

“He’s fine,” Kageyama replied, patting Hinata’s back reassuringly.

“That’s great…” Yamaguchi smiled softly. “Hey Tsukki…”

“Yeah?”

“Hinata tried to offer your body to a ghost.”

 

…

 

**Hinata**

Nishinoya was the first one to find the four of them in the gym before immediately running off to get help. He returned with Daichi and Sugawara running behind him. The latter bursting into tears once he saw the state of both Hinata and Yamaguchi who were still in slight shock from their ordeal. Pretty soon, the rest of the team arrived along with Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei. Kageyama and Tsukishima narrated what happened based on what they knew. Takeda-sensei called up their parents, informing them of what happened and reassuring them that their children were all fine and that everything was taken care of. Kiyoko-san arrived soon after that, and with the help of Ennoshita, and Sugawara, they handed out food for everyone in the gym. Since everyone decided not to go back to the dorms yet because of how dark it was outside.

“Here you go,” Sugawara said, handing Hinata and Yamaguchi each a bowl of instant ramen that was already filled with hot water. The two of them, along with Kageyama and Tsukishima, were seated against the wall, far away from the exit of the gym.

“Thanks, Sugawara-san,” Hinata smiled, accepting the bowl gratefully.

“Listen, I’m really sorry for what happened earlier,” Sugawara said softly, crouching in front of the Hinata and Yamaguchi. “It was my job to take care of you guys but I wasn’t careful enough.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Sugawara-san,” Hinata protested.

“That’s right,” Yamaguchi agreed. “We were just placed in unfortunate circumstances.”

“Thanks you guys,” Sugawara smiled sadly. “I’m really glad to see that you two are okay now.”

“We’ll be more careful next time,” Yamaguchi nodded.

“And besides, you took care of us really well on this trip,” Hinata smiled. “Thank you, Sugawara-san.”

“Alright, I’m going to go now before I burst into tears again in front of you,” Sugawara sniffed as he stood up and walked away quickly.

“Are senpais really are the best,” Hinata grinned as he watched him.

“You can say that again,” Yamaguchi agreed as he blew gently over the bowl of steaming noodles.

“Now I’m hungry,” Tsukishima said, standing up. “Do you need anything, Yamaguchi?”

“Nope, I’m okay. Thanks Tsukki,” he grinned.

“Can you get me some food too?” Kageyama asked.

“Hmm… Let’s see, nope,” Tsukshima said, walking away.

“Jerk,” Kageyama muttered under his breath as he stood up and followed behind him to get food. Hinata laughed as he opened the top of his noodles and began to slurp the soup.

“Glad we made it out of there alive,” Yamaguchi spoke up.

“Yeah… it was really scary,” Hinata shivered. “But Kageyama and Tsukishima seemed really scared too. I think he was even calling you ‘Tadashi’ and everything.”

“Well, this kind of thing happened to me before. Different circumstances though,” Yamaguchi said softly before lifting the bowl to his mouth and taking a long slurp.

“Really? When?” Hinata asked.

“Well, I’ve had my fear ever since middle school started. The other kids in school made fun of me for it and everything. Tsukki always helped me out but I didn’t think that they would do more than just tease,” Yamaguchi said.

“Then one day, during a field trip in my last year of middle school, some kids shoved me into the cubicle of a bathroom and locked me inside. I was so scared then but no matter how much I cried and yelled, they wouldn’t let me out.

“But luckily Tsukki came and found me. He got me out of the cubicle and even punched one of the bullies in the nose. Tsukki got suspended for it and everything but I’m still grateful for him for that day.” Hinata listened quietly as he looked at Yamaguchi who had a small smile on his face.

“I know he’s pretty difficult to be around and he seems really mean and everything, but he’s actually a really great person underneath. He still worries about me until now.”

“Is that why he wouldn’t tell anyone what your fear was?” Hinata guessed.

“Yeah,” Yamaguchi nodded. “He was afraid that it would happen again. But it turns out the exact opposite thing happened.” He leaned back against the wall and sighed as he watched their teammates talking together.

“I really love our team…” Yamaguchi sighed.

“Yeah,” Hinata agreed. Just then, Tsukishima and Kageyama came back, each carrying a bowl of instant noodles.

“Geez, I can’t believe you can handle that. You’re the only person who actually took the extra spicy seafood noodles,” Tsukishima said, sitting down on the floor beside Yamaguchi.

“They’re not that spicy,” Kageyama protested as he sat down beside Hinata who leaned over his arm and looked down at the bowl in his hands.

“Kageyama, the soup’s red,” Hinata pointed out.

“I’ve had spicier ones,” Kageyama shrugged, holding up the bowl to his mouth to take a long drink of the soup. The rest of them watched him in disbelief.

“How?” Yamaguchi said in surprise.

“I don’t think he’s human,” Tsukishima shook his head.

“That was awesome!” Hinata exclaimed.

“I can eat wasabi by itself,” Kageyama added.

“Okay now that’s just plain wrong,” Tsukishima deadpanned. From the other side of the gym, Sugawara and Daichi watched the interaction between the four first-years with smiles on their faces.

“It really is nice, seeing them talk and sit together like this,” Daichi said.

“Yeah,” Sugawara agreed. “Especially Kageyama and Tsukishima.”

“They really are great kids.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *inhales deeply*   
> The TsukkiYama is strong in this one...   
> Also, I might have to add on to the tags soon but I'll just do that after this fic is over which is pretty soon... I'll update the number of chapters once I have a number in my head...


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The practice match between Karasuno and Seijoh begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *wakes up and breaks open coffin lid before climbing out of the grave*
> 
> THIS HIATUS IS OVER!!!
> 
> *sits in front of the laptop and starts frantically typing the twelfth chapter*
> 
> Enjoy~~

**Hinata**

Hinata woke up to the sound of soft breathing coming from either side of him. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in the gym with daylight filtering in through the windows all around. He looked around and found the members of the team all sprawled out on the floor of the gym with blankets around them. Hinata also had his own blanket laid carefully across his lap.

‘How did I..? Oh, right…’ he thought as the memories of yesterday settled in on him. After everything he probably fell asleep in the gym with the other first years beside him. Yamaguchi was asleep next to him with his head on Tsukishima’s shoulder. When Hinata looked at them he found it hard to picture Tsukishima’s usual moody face, especially when he looked completely at peace while he slept with his glasses still on and Yamaguchi against his shoulder.

It was then that Hinata realized that he had been sleeping with his head against Kageyama’s shoulder. His friend didn’t seem to mind and actually looked almost as peaceful as Tsukishima while he slept. Hinata moved away from him slowly so as not to wake him up. Kageyama shoulder was pressed against his and his head was leaning towards Hinata as he slept. His dark hair fell across his forehead and slightly covered his eyes and his breaths were soft and even.

Hinata swallowed, resisting the urge to push Kageyama’s hair back. It was just like two days ago, when he and Kageyama were watching the sunset while standing near the vending machine. Once again, he was at a loss of words to describe how Kageyama looked like. ‘What the Hell is happening?’ Hinata asked himself as he stared at his sleeping friend. He could feel his heart beating quickly and wondered if it was loud enough to wake up the whole gym.

He thought about how Kageyama yelled his name yesterday when he was looking for him in the gym. Hinata had felt himself surrender to his own fear until Kageyama came in, the sound of his voice sending clarity to his thoughts. It was enough for him to get himself to stand up and make his way to the door and call for help.

Kageyama was the first person he saw when the door finally opened, letting in a stream of light. He remembered his friend rushing immediately towards him, letting him know that everything was okay. He remembered Kageyama picking him up and carrying him out to the gym. His arms and words gentle as he held him tight, reassuring him that everything was okay. And Hinata knew then, as Kageyama held him close, that everything really was okay.

‘I think… I really am in love with Kageyama,’ Hinata realized.

…

Slowly, the rest of the team began to wake up. Sugawara was the first to check on them once the rest of the first years woke up. Yamaguchi was the last of them to wake up, but Tsukishima let him sleep on his shoulder for as long as he needed. Kiyoko-san and Takeda-sensei were up long before them and were already preparing breakfast in the kitchen.

“Hey, did you sleep okay?” Kageyama asked while Hinata did his morning stretches as he waited for the rest of the team to get up. Particularly Tanaka and Nishinoya who were still snoring loudly in their sleep despite Daichi and Asahi’s efforts to wake them up.

“Huh? Uh… yeah, yeah. My sleep was… well….” Hinata stammered, jumping up in surprise at the sound of Kageyama’s voice.

“Okay,” he said slowly. “Well, we’re heading over for breakfast now.”

“Ah o-okay. I’ll join you guys then…” Hinata nodded, following behind Kageyama as he went to where Yamaguchi and Tsukishima were waiting by the door.

“Morning Hinata, Kageyama,” Yamaguchi smiled.

“Morning Yamaguchi!” Hinata grinned, calming down slightly at the sight of his friend.

“Morning,” Kageyama greeted simply.

“Did you sleep well last night?” Yamaguchi asked Hinata as the two of them walked side by side. “The others didn’t bother going to sleep in the rooms anymore once we fell asleep.”

“Yeah, I slept pretty well,” Hinata said.

“Considering that you fell asleep on Kageyama’s shoulder,” Tsukishima added. Hinata turned red at the comment.

“I-It’s not like I realized that I fell asleep there! I was asleep, okay? I didn’t know,” Hinata protested. He noticed Kageyama looking at him curiously and felt his face turn even redder.

“My, you seem to be turning quite red there. Are you nervous about something?” Tsukishima continued to tease.

“Well the Seijoh practice match is happening later. Maybe Hinata’s nervous about that,” Kageyama pointed out.

“Yeah, yeah! I’m _really_ nervous about later,” Hinata nodded quickly.

“Don’t be, we have our quick with us so it’ll be alright,” Kageyama said reassuringly.

“Yeah, haha. Th-thanks Kageyama,” Hinata stuttered, smiling at his friend.

“You guys really are idiots,” Tsukishima sighed as he walked away from them.

“Whatever Tsukishima,” Hinata grumbled as he continued to walk. Inside, he was mentally punching himself for earlier. ‘Geez, why can’t I even talk properly?’ he asked himself. Before games, he usually felt sick whenever his stomach started acting up. It was acting up now, but in a different way. He felt like he could leap ten feet in the air. Hinata smiled to himself.

‘Is this what it really feels like to be in love?’

 

…

 

**Kageyama**

Hinata had been acting weird all morning. It all started when he invited him over for breakfast in the morning and Hinata had practically jumped out of his skin when he heard him. He stammered often and Kageyama noticed how red his face turned sometimes whenever he talked. During breakfast he knocked over a glass of water, spilling it all over the table top and when Kageyama offered to help him out, Hinata shook his head furiously and mopped it up himself. After dropping his chopsticks on the ground.

‘Geez, he must really be nervous for the Seijoh match,’ Kageyama thought. After eating breakfast, the team packed their things and piled into the bus. Hinata had to excuse himself to the bathroom because he accidentally wore his shorts and t-shirt backwards.

“Do you think he’ll be alright?” Yamaguchi asked as he watched Hinata run back to the bus.

“Who knows? He better not screw up the game,” Tsukishima shrugged indifferently before putting on his headphones and leaning back in his seat. Hinata burst into the bus, gasping out an apology, before making his way to his seat beside Kageyama.

“Hey, are you alright? You didn’t forget anything else, did you?” he asked once Hinata sat down.

“Why? Do you think I forgot something?” he asked, sitting up in panic.

“No, I’m not saying that,” Kageyama sighed. “You really are nervous, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” Hinata chuckled half-heartedly. “I get really nervous before these kinds of things. Once, during a game in middle school, I had to visit the bathroom thrice before the match started.”

“Really?” Kageyama tried to imagine a slightly younger version of Hinata, shaking slightly with a nervous expression on his face as he stood on the court before the game. ‘I guess he’s the type who gets really serious while playing the game,’ he thought, casting a sidelong glance at Hinata who was animatedly talking to Yamaguchi in front of him.

‘Hopefully…’ Kageyama added as he leaned back in his seat.

…

“Hey, Kageyama…” Hinata said, nudging an elbow at Kageyama’s arm. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” Kageyama nodded, noticing that Hinata seemed a lot less nervous now.

“Is this Oikawa Tooru guy really good?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that he is,” Kageyama answered as his thoughts flew back to the first time he met him. It was during volleyball practice in middle school and Oikawa was the captain of the team. Kageyama was only mildly interested in playing volleyball back then but that mild interest grew into something more once he watched Oikawa play setter in a game. The lightning-quick toss towards their ace Iwaizumi Hajime before he sent in crashing down to the other side of the net drove Kageyama to the edge of his seat as he watched. The next day, he asked Oikawa to teach him how to set.

Oikawa enthusiastically accepted Kageyama’s request and proceeded to teach him. He wanted to impress his senpai with his skills and soon found himself to be a quick learner. Soon, even the coach recognized Kageyama’s potential as a genius setter. He thought that Oikawa would be delighted to hear that. But when the coach replaced him with Kageyama in one of Kitagawa Daiichi’s games, he started acting differently around him. The practice lessons with Oikawa stopped and he snapped at Kageyama whenever he talked to him. He still didn’t understand why he did those things until now.

“He’s the one who taught me how to be a setter. I looked up to him a lot back in middle school,” Kageyama added. ‘Even until now.’

“But we’ll show them, right Kageyama? They’ll be too surprised to even react to our quick!” Hinata exclaimed.

“Yeah, we will show them,” Kageyama agreed. He knew that his old teammates Kindaichi and Kunimi were going to be there. A smile spread across Kageyama’s face. He couldn’t wait to see the look on their faces once he and Hinata do their quick. ‘They’re definitely in for a surprise,’ he thought.

“Wahh! Kageyama, you look scary!” Hinata yelled out loud when he saw Kageyama’s smile. “Yamaguchi! Look at this!”

“Whoa! He really does look scary,” Yamaguchi exclaimed once he turned around to look at Kageyama. “Hey, Tsukki. Look at this.” Yamaguchi took of Tsukishima’s headphones to get his attention.

“What’s he doing? Thinking about murder?” Tsukishima frowned, looking at Kageyama who was still smiling behind him.

“I’m excited for the game,” Kageyama answered.

“Why? Are you planning to murder someone there?” Tsukishima said.

“Maybe it’s just his excited face,” Hinata mused.

“Maybe his facial nerves and muscles aren’t connected well,” Yamaguchi pointed out.

“Maybe he’s just not human,” Tsukishima deadpanned.

“Enough already!” Kageyama yelled to shut them up.

…

The bus finally rolled to a stop as it parked in front of Seijoh’s gymnasium. Hinata was back to his nervous state again, bent over in his seat as he clutched his stomach. Kageyama stood up instantly once the Coach Ukai switched off the engine and nudged Hinata to get him to sit up.

“Kageyama… I’m nervous again…” he moaned.

“Just get up and let me through, will you? Once we start doing our warm-ups you’ll feel better,” Kageyama replied, moving Hinata out of the way so he could get out of his seat.

“Alright…” Hinata mumbled, standing up and following behind Kageyama as they got out of the bus. The rest of the team gathered together before finally walking to the gym where the players of Seijoh were practicing. Kageyama felt a rush of excitement while at the same time being completely clear-headed and focused. To him, it wasn’t just a simple practice match. It was a chance for him to show his previous teammates and his senpai Oikawa Tooru how much he’s grown as a volleyball player.

Takeda-sensei and Coach Ukai were the first to enter while the team waited outside. Tanaka and Nishinoya had to be held back from bursting into the gym by Daichi and Ennoshita. Yamaguchi and Sugawara were busy trying to calm Hinata down while Tsukishima stood indifferently to the side, once again wearing his headphones. Finally, Takeda-sensei came out and called them in.

The team walked inside the gym, forming a line amongst themselves. “Thank you for having us here!” they all shouted in unison. When Kageyama stood back up, he instantly spotted the familiar faces of Kindaichi and Kunimi who were also watching him. He spotted Iwaizumi Hajime standing close to the net but the person next to him was the one who caught his eye the most.

He was much taller than before and he changed slightly from how he was back in middle school, but Kageyama could recognize that same, gloating smile and those piercing eyes anywhere. He looked directly at Kageyama with a smug expression on his face.

‘We’ll definitely show you what Karasuno’s made of,” Kageyama thought, staring back at Oikawa Tooru.

…

“Hinata, how long are you still going to be there?” Kageyama asked, knocking on the door of the restroom.

“J-just a minute!” Hinata answered. Kageyama sighed and refilled his water bottle in the water fountain that was placed near the restroom. Hinata felt the urge to go to the restroom in the middle of their warm-ups and has been in there for a quite a while. Daichi then asked Kageyama to check on him a few minutes before the match started.

“Well, well. If it isn’t my cute little junior, Tobio-chan.”

Kageyama froze in the middle of what he was doing before calmly turning off the water fountain and screwing on the lid of his water bottle. He slowly looked up to face the person who had just addressed him.

“Oikawa-san,” he greeted simply. Oikawa smiled down at him as he leaned against the wall beside the water fountain.

“I was watching your team earlier during practice. They seem to be pretty solid despite all the talk about you guys being ‘Flightless Crows,’” he said.

“We’re about to change all those rumors,” Kageyama said confidently. “You’ll see later. Our team is pretty good.”

“Oh, so it’s ‘Our Team’ now,” Oikawa smirked creating air quotes with his fingers. Kageyama stiffened and grit his teeth. Oikawa seemed to notice this and continued to push even further.

“I saw your game last year, back in Kitagawa Daiichi,” he said. “King of the Court. That’s a pretty good title you’ve got there. Kindaichi-chan and Kunimi-chan wouldn’t stop talking about it. In fact, they’re the ones who pushed our coach into making you play setter throughout the whole game.” Oikawa smirked down at Kageyama who only stood in place, refusing to be intimidated by his senior. Luckily, Hinata chose this as the time to exit the bathroom.

“K-kageyama… I think I’m fine now…” he said weakly, walking towards them with wobbly legs. Oikawa looked at him over Kageyama’s shoulder.

“Whoa, who’s the shrimp?” Oikawa asked.

“What?!” Hinata exclaimed, straightening up immediately and striding forward to stand beside Kageyama.

“Is this guy your libero or something?” Oikawa asked, pointing a finger at Hinata.

“Of course not! I’m a spiker! A spiker!” he answered.

“A spiker?” Oikawa echoed. “So you’re tossing to this guy?” he asked Kageyama.

“Yeah,” he nodded.

“Hold on, is that Oikawa Tooru?” Hinata gasped.

“Well, so you’ve heard of me,” Oikawa smiled. “Not a surprise, considering that I am quite pop—“

“We’re definitely taking you down,” Hinata interrupted him. The confidence in his voice made Kageyama turn to him in surprise. Hinata was bravely staring up at Oikawa with a completely serious expression on his face. Gone was the previous nervousness that he felt earlier.

“Yeah, we’re definitely taking you down,” Kageyama agreed. Oikawa raised an eyebrow at them.

“Well, I’m looking forward to it, _Tobio-chan_ ,” he said, the tone of his voice dripping with sarcasm. “You may be more of a team member now. But our team is still better than—“

“Oi Trashykawa! Quit bothering those first-years and get back here!”

Kageyama looked up and saw Iwaizumi Hajime standing near the entrance of the gym. He had just hurled a volleyball that hit Oikawa smack in the back of the head, catching him quickly by surprise.

“Mean Iwa-chan!” Oikawa yelled back, rubbing the back of his head. His menacing tone from earlier was completely gone as he faced his friend. “I was trying to look cool and intimidating here!”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re about as intimidating as an earthworm,” Iwaizumi deadpanned, walking towards them. When he saw Kageyama his face broke out into a smile.

“Hey, Kageyama right? Nice to see you again,” he greeted.

“Yeah, you too Iwaizumi-senpai,” Kageyama nodded.

“Iwa-chan! Don’t just say ‘hi’ to him! Intimidate him even more. You’re pretty scary already,” Oikawa pouted. Iwaizumi sighed and grabbed the back of his head, forcing him into a bow.

“Sorry for letting this idiot near you. I’ll be taking him away now,” Iwaizumi said, bowing in front of him before walking back to the gym, dragging Oikawa beside him.

“We’ll definitely show you! You hear me?!” Oikawa yelled before disappearing into the gym, leaving Kageyama and Hinata alone.

“You know, he’s different from how I imagined him to be,” Hinata said.

“Are you not that nervous now?” Kageyama asked.

“Nope,” Hinata shook his head. Kageyama felt a corner of his mouth turn up in a smile.

“That’s good.”

…

“Finally! You guys came!” Sugawara sighed in relief once Kageyama and Hinata entered the gym.

“Sorry, are we late?” Kageyama apologized.

“Not really. But the match is starting soon. You guys better get in line,” Sugawara said, ushering them towards the court.

“Okay, are we all complete now?” Daichi asked, looking around once Kageyama and Hinata joined the group in the center of the court. Tsukishima, Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Asahi were all there huddled in a circle.

“We’re all good. Time for your pep talk, Daichi-san,” Asahi grinned.

“It’s just a practice match,” Tsukishima mumbled. “Do we really need one?”

“Of course we need one!” Tanaka exclaimed, smacking a hand against Tsukishima’s back.

“It’s to get us all fired up before the game!” Nishinoya agreed, doing the same to Tsukishima.

“I don’t think you guys need to get fired up even further…” Asahi pointed out.

“Well it is just a practice match. But for the sake of the first years here, I guess I’ll give a really short one,” Daichi grinned. He looked up at each and every team member on the court with them.

“Remember what Coach Ukai said a few days ago,” Daichi began. “This practice match is to test out our new skills as a team. That comes first. But it’s also the time for us to show our skills together as a team. The time for us to show them that these crows can fly!”

“Alright!” Tanaka and Nishinoya yelled in unison.

“That was a pretty good speech, Daichi,” Asahi smiled.

“Whaaa!! So cool!!!” Hinata exclaimed, eyes shining with excitement.

“The referee’s calling us to line up already,” Tsukishima said in a monotone voice.

“Alright! Let’s show them!” Daichi grinned, placing his hand in the middle of the circle. The rest of the team followed suit with Tanaka having to force Tsukishima to do so as well.

“Karasuno, fight!”

…

Kageyama stood ready by the net, his eyes trained on the ball as it headed towards him. He could hear Tanaka yelling ‘Give it here!’ He felt Asahi behind him as well, ready to jump if needed. Sugawara and Yamaguchi were both cheering from the bench. And then Kageyama felt it. Hinata’s presence, blooming stronger than ever on the court. It poured over Kageyama and he knew exactly what it was saying.

‘Toss it to me.’

Kageyama smiled to himself, imagining what Kindaichi and Kunimi’s faces looked like. This was the toss that was so fast, neither of them could spike it. The toss that earned him the name ‘King of the Court.’ And now he was doing it again, only this time he had a spiker who was fast, and dumb, enough to spike it.

The ball fell lightly on his fingertips before Kageyama pushed it back, tossing it towards Hinata. From where Kageyama stood, it looked as if he was flying. His eyes burning brightly as his hand slammed down the ball over the net.

The sound echoed throughout the gym.

…

“Oi! Kageyama!”

Kageyama put down his water bottle and turned to find Kindaichi and Kunimi walking towards him. Kunimi was the one who called him earlier. He thumped Kindaichi on the back, pushing him towards Kageyama.

“Say it, Kindaichi,” Kunimi urged him. Kindaichi huffed and avoided looking at Kageyama.

“N-nice… game…” Kindaichi mumbled.

“You too,” Kageyama nodded. Hinata suddenly appeared beside him, staring at his two former teammates.

“Hey, that turnip-head guy’s your old teammate?” he asked, pointing a finger at Kindaichi.

“Wh-who are you calling turnip-head?!” Kindaichi said angrily.

“Don’t get too riled up, Kindaichi,” Kunimi sighed, smacking his friend in the back of the head. “Anyway, that was a pretty good game, Kageyama. You’ve changed a lot.”

“Yeah, I guess I have,” Kageyama said, casting a sidelong glance at Hinata.

“He’s our super awesome setter now!” Hinata exclaimed.

“But our setter is still better than yours,” Kindaichi smirked. “You guys were lucky Oikawa-senpai wasn’t in the game.”

“Right,” Kunimi agreed. “But we’ll see you guys around for sure,” he said before turning around to leave.

“Yeah, we’ll beat you next time,” Kindaichi smirked before turning around and following Kunimi.

“I guess we really showed them, huh Kageyama?” Hinata grinned, elbowing his friend in the ribs.

“Yeah, I guess we did,” Kageyama nodded, picking up his sports bag and then heading out of the gym with Hinata walking beside him.

“Our quick earlier was super cool!” Hinata exclaimed, pumping his fists in the air. “When you tossed the ball it was like ‘Gyuuuun’ and then I just saw it and then I hit it down like ‘Gwaaaah!’” Kageyama listened amusedly as Hinata recounted the quick that they did during the game, feeling glad that everything worked out in the end despite their various failures during their first try. Suddenly, he was alerted by the sound of his phone ringing.

“Hold on a second,” Kageyama said, putting down his duffel bag and fishing his phone out. Hinata paused with his hands in the pockets of his shorts. Kageyama saw who the caller was and frowned slightly before answering it.

“Hello? Father?” he asked. His father almost never called him.

“Tobio? Where are you?” said his father on the phone.

“I’m at Seijoh, we had a volleyball game earlier,” Kageyama answered, his frown deepening at the sound of his father’s voice. He sounded panicked. ‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this,’ Kageyama thought, swallowing hard.

“Do you think you can make it here?” his father asked.

“Where are you? Are you alright?” Kageyama asked, fully alert now. Hinata seemed to notice something was wrong and walked towards him.

“It’s your mother…” his father said shakily. “She’s in the hospital.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked Oikawa's appearance. Don't worry, there'll be more of him in the next chapter ;) 
> 
> In the meantime... what could have happened to Tobio's mother?
> 
> Find out, in the next episode of Dragon Ball Z!!!
> 
> *insert theme song*
> 
> (*whispers* Sorry for being a nerd)


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kageyama visits his mother in the hospital

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god we're almost at the end of this fic! This is the second to the last chapter and the last one will come up by tomorrow. Sorry for that surprise attack but I just wanted to confirm it until I was absolutely sure about it. And now comes the big question/s:
> 
> Do you guys want an epilogue? And if so, what should I write about in it?
> 
> Please answer ASAP because if not then I'll just end this fic by tomorrow. Sorry for putting this up right now at the second to the last chapter but I just recently got this idea of putting up an epilogue and everything...

**Kageyama**

It was a drug overdose. His parents came home very early that day and his mother went upstairs as soon as possible. She probably hadn’t been able to sleep very well the past few nights, Tobio would never know. But what happened was that she took too many of her sleeping pills at once, most probably in order to help her sleep. And now she was at the hospital, getting her stomach pumped free of the drugs.

The hospital was a bus ride away from where Tobio was but he had no time to wait for one. Instead, he left Seijoh, providing minimal but sufficient enough information to his teammates about where he was going, and headed towards the hospital.

It was already evening once he arrived at the hospital, bursting through the doors and heading right for the information desk. But then Tobio realized that he didn’t have to ask the lady at the desk for information anymore because soon enough, his father appeared and walked towards him. He had been sitting on one of the benches in the waiting room and he was still wearing his work clothes.

“Where’s mother?” Tobio blurted out instantly. His father bit his lip and heaved out a sigh before answering.

“They took her upstairs, Tobio,” he said softly. “I-I still don’t know how she is but let’s just pray that she will be fine.” Suddenly, as if on cue, a doctor dressed in a clean, white coat came up to them holding a clipboard.

“Excuse me sir, are you Kageyama-san?” he asked.

“Yes, that’s me,” Tobio’s father nodded. “Is there any news about my wife? How is she?”

“Well, we got all of the drugs pumped out of her body,” the doctor began. “But it might take some time for her to recover. Especially since the drugs stayed in her body for quite a long time. It would have been better if you called earlier.”

“Yeah…” Tobio’s father mumbled, hanging his head down. “Thanks doctor.”

“You can visit her soon, once her vital signs are clear,” the doctor said, giving one final nod before leaving. Tobio sighed with relief at knowing that his mother was okay. He could see that his father was just as relieved as he was.

“When did you know that she needed to go to the hospital?” Tobio asked.

“I-I called her name but she didn’t answer me. That’s when I thought that something may be wrong,” his father swallowed. Tobio felt his fists clench at his sides as he looked at him.

“The doctor said that the drugs were in her for quite some time and that you should have called earlier,” Tobio said coldly, his words sharp as they lashed out at his father. “After calling out her name, exactly how much time passed before you decided to call an ambulance?”

His father cringed visibly at the question and he avoided his son’s harsh gaze. “Twenty minutes,” he mumbled out. Tobio felt himself snap.

“Twenty minutes?” he repeated, his tone colder than ever. “But she could have taken those pills when? Ten minutes ago? Twenty minutes ago? An _hour_ ago?” Tobio’s voice rose steadily. “But you wouldn’t know, would you? Because you weren’t _there._ ”

“Tobio I-I _tried_ to call her again,” his father protested.

“You _tried_ calling her?” Tobio snapped back. “You couldn’t have at least went upstairs to check on her?”

“Tobio, you know that I _can’t_ go upstairs. I’m—“

“You’re a fucking coward, that’s what you are!” Tobio roared. He could feel everyone in the hospital lobby turn to stare at him. ‘Stare all you want,’ he thought. ‘I don’t give a fuck anymore.”

“Tobio, please,” his father pleaded. “Let’s do this outside…”

“What? What else are you afraid of?” Tobio continued. He opened his mouth to say more when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back. He looked up and saw the one person he least expected to be there.

“Tobio-chan, let’s go outside. You’re causing too much of a commotion here,” Oikawa murmured, leaning down near him. He spotted Iwaizumi standing on the other side of him as well with both hands in his pockets.

“What are you—?”

“Come on, let’s go…” Oikawa interrupted him, pushing him towards the exit and out of the hospital before Tobio had a chance to protest.

“What are you doing here?” Tobio hissed once they were outside.

“Well, we heard about what happened from your captain Daichi-san,” Iwaizumi answered, scratching the back of his head.

“Did we really have to come all the way here though?” Oikawa whined, finally letting go of Kageyama.

“This was your idea, idiot!” Iwaizumi smacked Oikawa on the back of his head.

“Iwa-chan! I told you not to tell him! Now he thinks I’m nice…” Oikawa pouted.

“So why _are_ you here?” Tobio asked. “I don’t remember you caring for me all that much. And it’s none of your business anyway,” he grumbled.

“Well, believe it or not, this bastard actually cares about you. And the only reason why he hates you is because he’s jealo—“

“Shhh!! That’s enough Iwa-chan!” Oikawa interrupted him, slapping a hand on his mouth.

“Jealous? Of me?” Kageyama frowned.

“Yeah, because you’re a genius setter and he’s scared of you surpassing him,” Iwaizumi said quickly, pulling down Oikawa’s hand to let him speak.

“Great! Now he’ll be gloating whenever he sees me,” Oikawa groaned, pointing at Kageyama. “See?! You’re turning him into an airhead!”

“You’re the airhead here, dumbass,” Iwaizumi sighed, smacking Oikawa again on the back of the head.

“It doesn’t matter now,” Kageyama shook his head. “Thanks for pulling me out but I’m going back in to pummel my father for what he did.” He stuffed his hands back in his pockets and began to walk back to the hospital.

“You can’t blame your father for what he did and you know that very well, Tobio-chan,” Oikawa called out after him in a suddenly serious tone. Kageyama spun around to face him.

“He was the one who abandoned my mother there!” he yelled. “What if he didn’t call the ambulance at all?! What if he just stayed in the kitchen, cooking dinner while Mom was dying upstairs?”

“The incident was no one’s fault,” Iwaizumi said gently, placing a hand on Kageyama’s shoulder. “Placing the blame on someone won’t make anything better.”

“Why did they get married in the first place?” Kageyama choked out, his fists shaking at his sides. “They know they’re not each other’s soulmates but why did they still get married? Why did they have _me_? Am I just an accident?”

“You are not an _accident_ , Tobio-chan,” Oikawa said shaking his head. “If you were you would probably have been dropped off in an orphanage somewhere and not living with you parents. They made the effort to raise you and that must mean something.”

“But why does it have to be this way? Why couldn’t they have just lived happily with their own soulmates? Why does the world have to be so unfair about this?”

“We don’t have the answer to that,” Iwaizumi replied.

“And we never will,” Oikawa added. “But things don’t just happen randomly either. There must be a reason to everything.”

Kageyama heaved out a sigh and looked up at the dark sky. He noticed that there were fewer stars here than there were in the training camp. But each of them still burned brightly out of reach. ‘If there’s a reason to everything, then why does this happen?’

…

Kageyama ended up spending the night in Oikawa’s house on Iwaizumi’s invitation. He gladly accepted the offer, knowing that he wasn’t okay with staying in his own house at the moment. He tried not to imagine how his mother’s room looked like and couldn’t bear to face his own father if he came home. Oikawa grudgingly fixed the couch in his apartment and let Kageyama sleep there.

That night, his dreams were even worse than before. It was the same one that he had back at the training camp only much more vivid. No matter how much Kageyama tried to pull himself out, the dreams swallowed him up, showing memory after memory after memory. Kageyama woke up screaming and fell out of the couch in a tangle of sheets.

“So you’ve got them too, huh?”

Kageyama blinked his eyes open and was greeted with the sight of Oikawa standing in the kitchen in his pajamas. He was heating a kettle full of water on the stovetop. Kageyama looked at the clock in the kitchen and saw that it was four o’ clock. That was probably one of the earliest times he woke up from a nightmare. He looked at Oikawa who looked weary and tired and realized that he had them as well.

“Yeah,” Kageyama nodded, sitting up. “What time did you wake up?”

“Three-thirty,” Oikawa answered, smiling grimly. The kettle whistled and he turned off the stove. “It gets worse the longer you have it. But you can hold it off a bit with sleeping pills.

Kageyama winced at what he said before standing up and folding the blankets he used. Oikawa noticed this as he carefully poured the hot water into two mugs.

“Sorry, that probably made you remember it again,” he apologized. “Have some chamomile tea. It’ll calm you down.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Kageyama nodded, making his way to the small kitchen table once he finished fixing up the couch.

“No problem,” Oikawa shrugged, handing a mug of tea to Kageyama who took it gratefully.

“Thanks for letting me stay here too,” he added.

“Don’t push your luck, Tobio-chan,” Oikawa sang, wagging a finger in front of his junior’s face. “You’d better be out of here later.”

“I know,” Kageyama nodded, hoping that his parents wouldn’t be home by the time he got there. It was a school day but he didn’t feel like going to school either. The two of them sat quietly at the kitchen table, sipping their tea. Kageyama was surprised that he liked the taste of chamomile tea and considered buying more of them for himself.

“You know, the reason why I decided to help you out is because the same thing happened to me too,” Oikawa said, finally breaking the silence. Kageyama’s head snapped up to look at him in surprise. Oikawa saw this and smirked slightly.

“Yeah, only Iwa-chan knows about it,” he said. “It was my mother too, just like yours.”

“Oh…” Kageyama said, wishing that he had something better to say. “I’m s—“

“I don’t need your apology,” Oikawa scoffed. “And besides, it happened a long time ago. What’s done is done.”

“Doesn’t it bother you?” Kageyama asked, frowning down at the mug in his hands. “Doesn’t it bother you that your parents aren’t—“

“Soulmates?” Oikawa finished. “Well, yeah at first it did. Family gatherings were always pretty uncomfortable. When they knew that my parents weren’t soulmates and had a child, people looked at me differently.”

“I’m sorry…” Kageyama mumbled. “That never really happened to me before.”

“Yeah but it stopped bothering me already once I knew.”

“Knew what?”

“That my parents still married for love,” Oikawa answered, looking up at Kageyama. “They didn’t have to be soulmates to know that they loved each other and two them, it was all that mattered.” Kageyama frowned.

“So you’re saying that—“

“No, I’m not saying that this whole soulmate is a load of crap,” Oikawa shook his head. “If you do meet your soulmate and fall in love and have all these fears and memories erased, then that’s awesome. That’s great,” he shrugged. “This whole soulmate thing may be just some huge cosmic plan, but it doesn’t control everything. And it definitely doesn’t control how and why people fall in love.” Oikawa downed the rest of his tea and stood up to put the mug in the kitchen sink while Kageyama mulled over what he just said.

“Things happen and results are made. It’s as simple as that,” Oikawa finished. “I’m going to get ready for school. I want you out by six o’ clock,” he said before walking back to his room, leaving Kageyama alone with his own thoughts.

 

…

 

**Hinata**

“Kageyama! Oi Kageyama! It’s time for lunch!” Hinata yelled as he burst into Kageyama’s classroom.

“He’s not here,” grumbled a girl seated at the front row eating her lunch.

“Again?” Hinata whined. “He wasn’t here yesterday either. Are you sure he’s really not here?” he asked.

“Why should I know?” the girl shrugged. “You’re his boyfriend. Shouldn’t you know better?”

“H-he’s n-not my boyfriend!!” Hinata stammered, flushing a dark pink color. The girl smirked at him.

“Yeah right,” she rolled her eyes. “Just please stop bursting into our classroom every time during lunch period.”

“Fine, sorry,” Hinata sighed, shoulders slumping as he headed back to his classroom.

“Still not here?” Yamaguchi asked, looking up to see that Hinata was alone today too. He sat down and halfheartedly began to eat his lunch.

“Nope,” Hinata pouted.

“Geez, how long is he planning to skip school? This is his third day already,” Yamaguchi said.

“He’s going to have to catch-up on a lot of work,” Tsukishima said as indifferently as usual before taking a bite of his lunch.

“Gahhhh!!! I’m going to drag that idiot of his house tomorrow and murder him!” Hinata yelled angrily.

“Maybe he just needs some time alone, Hinata…” Yamaguchi said gently. “He’s been through quite a lot after all…”

“Yeah…” Hinata nodded, sinking down in his seat. He stared at the empty seat beside his that he had pulled up just in case Kageyama was here. It had been empty for quite a few days and Hinata felt strange not having him by his side. Volleyball practice was extremely different without him too. Sugawara was taking over his position in the meantime and his tosses were timed correctly. But Hinata just couldn’t feel himself syncing to any of them. There was a strength in Kageyama’s presence when he was on the court, and without that, Hinata felt as if half of him was missing.

…

Hinata walked out of the gym alone, carrying his sports bag over one shoulder. He had missed a couple of Sugawara’s tosses as well as some receives and blocks. He waited for Coach Ukai, Daichi, or even Tsukishima to scold him about it but nobody said anything. It was as if everyone on the team mutually understood that it wasn’t the same without Kageyama in practice. Sugawara and Daichi tried desperately to keep everyone’s spirits up but even Tanaka and Nishinoya seemed to be down as well. Everyone on the team was affected by what happened to Kageyama.  

“Hey, Hinata! Do you have some time?” Sugawara called after him. He and Daichi were walking out of the gym together and the two caught up to Hinata.

“Sure,” Hinata nodded. “Is this about all the missed tosses earlier? I’m really sorry for that, I’ll do better tomorrow,” he promised.

“Don’t worry about that,” Sugawara said, waving it away. “You’re not the only one who’s affected by this.”

“Yeah,” Daichi agreed. “But this will be troublesome once Prefecturals start.”

“It would be great if someone would go talk to him…” Sugawara sighed.

“Doesn’t he need time to be alone right now?” Hinata asked. Sugawara smiled gently and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Do you really think anyone would want to be alone with all that load on their chest?” he asked. Hinata’s eyes widened with realization. Sugawara smiled, satisfied at what he did and backed away from the first-year.

“If only someone would go to his house on 451 Sakura Street,” he said loudly. Beside him, Daichi smiled and shook his head, taking his boyfriend’s hand in his.

“See you tomorrow Hinata,” Daichi called out to him as he and Sugawara walked towards the school exit.

“That was sneaky, you know?” Daichi said, raising his eyebrow once they were out of earshot.

“Yeah, I guess it was,” Sugawara shrugged before flashing Daichi a smile. “But you love that about me, don’t you?”

“Don’t push your luck, Koushi,” Daichi smiled, shaking his head at him again. “Let’s just hope this works.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m sure it will,” Sugawara said lightly.

“Oh yeah? How?”

“Intuition.”

…

‘451 Sakura Street. 451 Sakura Street,’ Hinata repeated again and again as he stood by the entrance of the school once Daichi and Sugawara left. ‘Sakura Street. Sakura Street. Where _is_ Sakura Street?’ Hinata closed his eyes as he tried to remember where it was. ‘I’ve never been to a Sakura Street before,’ he thought desperately. He tried to remember all those times when the team met up outside Coach Ukai’s store for pork buns. After eating, Kageyama left ahead to go home.

‘Which street did he go to again?’ Hinata asked himself. He remembered Kageyama always going left in the fork in the road ahead towards…

“Karui Street!” he yelled out loud, suddenly remembering the name. “I’ll just go there and—“

Suddenly, Hinata realized that the sun was already dipping low in the horizon and the sky was about to go dark in a matter of minutes. He swallowed, knowing that he would probably reach Kageyama’s house by that time. And what’s worse, he didn’t even know exactly where Sakura Street was.

“It’s going to be all dark…” he shivered, remembering his most recent experience back in the storage room. But then he also remembered how Kageyama ended up finding him there and rescuing him from that dark place. He appeared right when Hinata needed him, and it was now time for him to do the same.

‘Kageyama is in a really dark place now too… Just like me,’ he thought, breathing in to calm himself down and focus on the task at hand. ‘And this time, I’ll rescue him. And I have to do this now.’ Hinata thought about what Sugawara had said last week, about how he decided to kiss Daichi on the spot.

“But I guess that’s kind of what it means to be soulmates. You have to be brave for each other, despite all the things you’re going through,” was what he recalled Sugawara said to them. Right now, Hinata was going to be facing his phobia head-on. But if it meant being able to help Kageyama out, he’d do it for as long as he needed to.

Hinata ran.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And another cliffhanger!!! Don't worry guys, this will all be cleared up soon :D Please comment/give kudos below and thank you all so much for all the hits and kudos and comments so far!! 
> 
> Also, I'm going to start a new Haikyuu! fanfic after this one. It'll probably be up by next week and I'll just put the link in the comments if you guys want to check it out. I'm thinking of making it an AkaKen and BoKuroo fic...


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinata finally arrives at Kageyama's house

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER OMG!!!
> 
> Thank you guys for all the comments and kudos and hits you've given me. I'm so glad people liked this fic and I hope more people do in the future. This is my longest fic so far and I hope you guys also stay tuned to the fics that I will be making in the future.

**Hinata**

The wind rushed through Hinata’s hair, face, and clothes as he sped down street after street. ‘Damn, not this way either…’ he mentally cursed as he ended up on a different street from the one he was looking for. He ran back, retracing his steps until he reached Karui Street. He looked up at the sky and saw that the last rays of sunlight were slowly disappearing. Hinata slumped down on the sidewalk with his head in his hands.

‘Calm down… Shouyou…’ he said to himself, taking slow, deep breaths. He stood up again and began running down Karui Street before turning right and heading down a street he hadn’t been on. The sky was completely dark now and the light coming from the streetlamps was barely sufficient enough to drive it away. A cold feeling washed over Hinata and his pace slowed down to a stop.

Beads of cold sweat formed on his forehead and Hinata raised a shaking hand to wipe them away. He focused his gaze on the glow of the streetlamp overhead, trying to chase away the thoughts of darkness all around him. He concentrated on the feeling of his heart thrumming loudly in his chest which was not only caused by him having to run so fast.

He remembered the cold, abandoned feeling he had back inside the storage room. How he thought that nobody would be there to help him. But despite all that, it was Kageyama who found him and saved him. Hinata dug his feet in the ground and took off running down the street again. He knew that what happened to Kageyama was a terrible thing, something Hinata had no experience with considering how his parents were. But he could at least be with Kageyama so that he wouldn’t be alone.

Hinata’s eyes instantly spotted the street sign ahead of him and forced his legs to run faster. Soon the name of the street to the left came into focus. “Sakura Street!” Hinata exclaimed loudly, smiling as he turned left down Sakura Street. There were fewer street lights there and the fear once again clawed at his mind. Hinata grit his teeth and focused instead on reading the numbers on the doors of the houses.

“448… 449… 450… 451!” Hinata stopped in front of a large, Western-style house with the number 451 on the door. The house did not have a gate around it and the all the lights in the house were turned off. It occurred then to Hinata that Kageyama might not even be home at all.

‘But I still have to try…’ Hinata thought determinedly. The streetlamps were far away from the house and the darkness loomed larger around him. He gulped and began to knock on the door.

 

…

 

**Kageyama**

Kageyama lay on his bed in the dark with music blasting through his earphones. His mother was admitted out of the hospital two days ago and the family had gone back to their usual routine of not seeing each other. But Kageyama’s dreams worsened as well and he found himself waking up at three or three-thirty am. He couldn’t go back to sleep after waking up and by the time morning came, he was too tired to get himself out of bed and go to school.

His mother woke up at around the same time he did as well, especially since she was no longer on medication. But he also noticed that the sounds of her crying didn’t bother him like it did before. Instead, it made him think a lot about what Oikawa said before. About his parents loving each other.

There was a time, back when Tobio was still very little, when his parents spent a lot of time with each other. He could remember a few picnics that they did together and even happy conversations at the family table. But for some reason, everything fell apart. His mother moved to the room upstairs and they stopped sleeping on the same bed. The time they all spent together dwindled until eventually, they all just separated themselves from each other.

Tobio had very little memories of the times they spent together that he never bothered looking over them again until now. But surely some trace of the past was still left. After all, his father still sat at the bottom of the stairs in the morning whenever his mother started crying. Tobio felt a stab of regret for what he said to him in the hospital.

Until now, Tobio never thought twice about whether he could help out his parents’ relationship in some way. But now he knew that there was still some hope left and that he was the only one who could fix it. Oikawa’s words echoed in his head. ‘Things happen and results are made. It was as simple as that.’ Tobio just hoped that the results were going to be good.

His phone finished playing the last song of the playlist he was listening to. As he was reaching for it to rewind the playlist, he heard the hammering on the door.

…

Kageyama put down his phone and removed his earphones to check if he was just hearing things. The hammering on the door came again, this time much clearer. ‘It can’t be Mother or Father,’ he thought as he walked out of his room and down the stairs. ‘Even if they are coming home early, they could still open the door.’

“Hold on!” Kageyama called out as he walked towards the door and opened it.

“Kageyama..?”

“Hinata..?” Kageyama’s eyes widened in surprise as he took in the sight of Hinata trembling by the doorway. “Hinata!” he said much louder when he realized that it was already nighttime but Hinata was standing right there in front of him. His eyes were large with fright and his shaking legs were barely holding him up properly.

“Hold on,” Kageyama said, taking hold of Hinata’s arm as he frantically searched the wall for the light switch but before he could switch it on, Hinata stepped forward and clung to him tightly. Kageyama lost his balance and fell down on his back with his trembling friend on top of him.

“Kageyama!” he said much louder, wrapping his arms around Kageyama’s middle.

“What are you doing out here, dumbass?!” he yelled. “It’s already nighttime. Let go of me, I’m trying to turn on the light switch.”

“I don’t care about that!” Hinata yelled louder. “I don’t care if it’s dark or not, I’m not afraid!”

“You’re shaking, Hinata,” Kageyama argued. “You’re obviously not okay. Let me turn on the light.”

Hinata only clung to him tighter in response with his face buried in Kageyama’s t-shirt. “I’m sorry…” he finally said, speaking in a weak and shaky voice.

“Idiot, what are you sorry for?” Kageyama frowned.

“I’m sorry for what happened to your mom. I’m sorry that this is happening to you…” Hinata said, his voice muffled by talking into the shirt. Kageyama looked down at him in surprise.

“I’m sorry that I can’t be much help to you right now,” Hinata continued. “I can’t help you right now with your problems, but it’s better to deal with them when someone’s with you…” Kageyama’s gaze softened and his hand lifted up to rub Hinata’s back.

“Is that why you ran all the way here?” he asked gently.

“Yeah…” Hinata mumbled.

“Idiot, you didn’t have to do that. You must have been so scared…”

“No, I’m alright now,” Hinata shook his head and looked up to face Kageyama. ‘His shaking has stopped…’ Kageyama noticed with surprise.

“But… how? It’s still dark,” he frowned.

“My mom told me that you can tell who your soulmate is by listening to your own heart,” Hinata explained. “My heart’s beating really fast right now, Kageyama. You can feel it can’t you?”

Kageyama blushed and nodded his head. He could feel his own heart beating quickly and wondered if Hinata could feel it also. His gaze on him was intense and serious and Kageyama found himself not being able to look away from it.

“Kageyama, I think you’re the one,” Hinata said softly. “I think you’re my soulmate.”

Kageyama felt his heart skip a beat at the sound of those words. Strangely, he began to imagine the ultra-fast quick that they did during games. The feeling of his presence that ordered Kageyama to toss the ball to him. It felt a lot like the moment he was sharing right now with Hinata. His faces was only inches away from his and his big, brown eyes beckoned to him. Hinata’s presence filled his head, pulling at Kageyama.

“There’s only one way to find out then, right?” Kageyama swallowed, his throat suddenly feeling dry.

“Yeah…” Hinata nodded before closing his eyes. Kageyama cupped his face gently with his left hand and leaned down to meet his lips.

…

Kageyama felt himself being pulled forward as the memories suddenly rushed in. They flashed and formed inside his head, each memory connecting to another. Each one felt vivid and real and frightening and amazing at the same time. And suddenly, it all stopped and only the feeling of warmth remained.

The feeling of Hinata’s soft lips against his.

 

…

 

**Hinata**

“Hey, shouldn’t we walk faster?” Kageyama asked, frowning at Hinata beside him. The two of them were walking down the sidewalk of Karui Street holding hands. Hinata loved how warm Kageyama’s hand was and how it completely swallowed up his own hand. ‘A perfect fit…’ Hinata thought with a smile.

“Yeah… we probably should…” he agreed. “But it’s kind of nice walking like this. I never thought the night sky could look this awesome.” Before, it terrified him a lot which was why he usually drew his curtains over the windows in his bedroom whenever he slept. But now he marveled at how huge it was and how it was covered with stars.

“It does look nice,” Kageyama agreed. The two of them turned right into another street and walked in comfortable silence. Hinata’s heart was still beating loudly in his ears even after their kiss. The cold dread that came from his fear of the dark was washed away by Kageyama’s warmth and closeness. The kiss felt _right._ And even though Hinata did have to run in the dark to get to it, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

He turned his head to look at Kageyama walking quietly beside him. ‘He’s thinking about something, isn’t he?’ Hinata thought, giggling at Kageyama’s expression.

“What’s so funny?” he asked, hearing the sound of Hinata’s giggle.

“You’re doing that constipated face again,” Hinata smiled. “What are you thinking about?” he asked, nudging Kageyama with his shoulder.

“I’ve been thinking about the memories,” he answered. “Trying to piece everything together from what I got.”

“Oh… How did it feel like?” Hinata asked. “Getting the memories and everything.” Kageyama stared ahead with a faraway look in his eyes as he walked.

“You know that scene in Fullmetal Alchemist? The part when Edward was pulled through the gate and he saw the Truth?” Hinata nodded.

“It felt kind of like that…” Kageyama finished.

“Like all the information in the world was shoved into your head?” Hinata quoted. Kageyama smiled and squeezed his hand.

“Yeah, exactly like that.”

“So what was I then? In my past life?” Hinata asked curiously.

“You were a girl,” Kageyama answered. “A girl with blonde hair and a really bright smile. Like your smile. And you liked to paint a lot.”

“What were you then?”

“I was a guy, your childhood friend actually. And eventually I fell in love with you and married you,” Kageyama added. “But our story’s not exactly a happy one actually…”

“Really? It seemed happy until now. What happened to us?”

“Well, you went blind so you couldn’t paint anymore. It really hurt you a lot…” Kageyama said softly. “And I had to leave to join the army. Leaving you was really hard. I hoped that I could survive so that I could see you again but… I died when a bomb hit.”

“Oh…” Hinata bit his lip. “What happened to me after?”

“You learned about it when someone gave you a telegram. After that, you lost all hope of living and shut yourself out from the world. You never smiled again,” Kageyama added. “Sad, isn’t it.”

“It is…” Hinata agreed. “But I guess we’ll have to make it up to them then, by staying together.”

“Yeah, I guess we can do that,” Kageyama nodded. “The Universe has given us this chance, so we should take it.”

“Right!” Hinata exclaimed. “Man, I never thought I would meet my soulmate this early in life. I was kind of scared at first since I got my fear after the first day of school. I saw so many new people I thought ‘How the Hell am I going to find this guy?’”

“You got yours on the first day of school?” Kageyama cocked his head. “I got my memories way before that.”

“Really?” Hinata stopped walking and looked up at him in surprise. “So you saw me before the first day of school.”

“Yeah, and I knew exactly that you were the one,” Kageyama smiled.

“Wait! When? When? When did you see me?” Hinata pressed.

“In your match with Aoyama, back when you were in middle school,” Kageyama answered. “I stayed behind in the locker rooms after my game and I saw another volleyball game playing when I left. I decided to watch for a little while but then I saw you do this amazing receive that sent you crashing against the wall. So I decided to stay and watch for a while.”

“You saw my game!” Hinata echoed incredulously. “What did you think?”

“I knew that I definitely wanted to meet you again,” Kageyama replied with a smile.

“And here we are now,” Hinata finished. He stopped and looked ahead to see his house further down the street. He spotted his mother outside calling out his name and his little sister doing the same while walking around the street.

“You were right, I guess we should have walked faster,” Hinata smiled and shrugged. His sister spotted him in the distance and instantly rushed over to him.

“Nii-chan! Nii-chan!” she cried, clinging to Shouyo’s waist once she caught up to him. He bent down and hoisted her up with his arms.

“Hey, it’s alright. I’m back,” he smiled at her reassuringly, wiping the tears from her eyes with his thumb.

“Nii-chan!” she cried. “You idiot! Mom was so worried!” She swatted at Shouyo’s face with her tiny hands and he reached a hand up to block them.

“Sorry, Natsu. I shouldn’t have stayed out so late,” Shouyo apologized.

“Hold on! You’re walking! In the dark, Nii-chan!” she exclaimed in surprise.

“Yup! I’m not afraid anymore!” Shouyo cheered.

“So, who’s that then?” she asked, pointing at Kageyama who stood by the side watching them.

“Ah, that scary guy over then?” Shouyo grinned, turning to look at Kageyama. “That’s Kageyama Tobio.”

“Hello, I’m your brother’s friend,” Kageyama introduced himself.

“He’s kinda scary-looking…” Natsu observed.

“Yeah, he is!” Shouyo nodded in agreement. “But when he smiles… he looks really nice.” Kageyama looked up and flushed at the comment, much to Shouyo’s delight.

“Well, see you in school tomorrow then, Kageyama!” he waved as he began walking back to his house, still carrying Natsu.

“Mom’s gonna be really mad at you,” she reminded him.

“I know. I know,” Shouyo sighed.

“That guy was your soulmate, wasn’t he?” she guessed, smiling at him.

“Yeah, he was,” Shouyo nodded, returning the smile.

“Shouyo! There you are!” his mother cried, rushing over to him as soon as they neared the house. “How are you walking in the dark?”

“I’m fine Mom,” Shouyo reassured her as he set down Natsu.

“My fear is all gone. I kissed my soulmate.”

 

…

 

**Kageyama**

Even though the memories were gone, Tobio still woke up early out of habit. He rubbed his eyes and mentally groaned once he saw that it was still four in the morning on his phone. Straight away, he heard the sound of his mother crying again. But this time, he knew exactly what to do.

Tobio stood up and exited his room, silently padding down the hallway until he reached the door to his mother’s room. ‘This is it,’ he thought. ‘There’s no turning back.’ He sucked in a deep breath and opened the door.

His mother was sitting on the floor with her back against the empty bed and her knees pulled up to her chest. Her shoulder-length, dark hair hung down limply as she buried her face in her arms. It was a pitiful sight and Tobio mentally punched himself for not doing something back then when he found out that this was happening. He was wondering how long she’d been doing this before Tobio made the discovery when suddenly, she heard him and looked up.

“Tobio…” she gasped in surprise. “What are you… what are you doing here?”

“Mom…” Tobio said softly before walking forward and taking one of her arms. “I wanted to show you something…” His mother looked at him questioningly with wet eyes but stood up when her son pulled her up. Tobio gave her a small, reassuring smile before pulling her with him as he left her room and walked down the hall.

“Tobio, what are you doing?” she finally spoke up once they reached the staircase.

“Mom, I think you should see this,” Tobio answered, gesturing for her to go down the stairs. His mother frowned at him in confusion but decided to go down as well with her son following behind her. And then, she saw him.

“Hisashi..?” she whispered. Tobio’s father, who had been sitting at the bottom of the steps, heard her and looked up.

“Mei,” he said in surprise.

“What are you doing down here?” Tobio’s mother asked, walking down the stairs towards him.

“I-I uh…” his father stammered.

“He’s always been here,” Tobio interrupted, walking down the stairs to where his parents were. He smiled at the two of them.

“Father knows that you always wake up crying from the memories. He can’t go upstairs so he just stays down here,” Tobio explained.

“Is it true, Hisashi?” his mother asked, turning to her husband in surprise. “All this time?”

“Yes, Mei,” his father nodded. “I’m sorry for being so useless, for not being there when you need me to. But I just want you to know that I still love you, even after all this time. I never once thought about leaving you even when you used to wake me up in the middle of the night.”

“Hisashi…” his mother whispered as new tears fell down her face. She stepped down the stairs and wrapped her arms around her husband. “I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “I’m sorry for transferring to a new room. I’m sorry for leaving you alone like this when you cared so much…”

“Shh… It’s alright,” Tobio’s father smiled as he gently stroked her hair. “It’s alright now, Mei.” Tobio smiled, leaning against the wall as he watched his parents embrace. ‘I guess the results this time are good,’ he thought. Then, his mother pulled away from his father and she looked at her son with tears in her eyes.

“Tobio… Thank you.” She went towards him and wrapped her son up in a hug. Tobio froze for a few moments before finally returning her embrace. He could smell the scent of soap and citrus on her. Tobio closed his eyes and held her tighter, breathing it all in. When they pulled apart, he realized that he had tears running down his face.

“Dad… I’m sorry,” he apologized as he turned to his father. “I’m sorry for saying all those things in the hospital. You did all you could to help Mom out.”

“You don’t have anything to apologize for, son,” his father smiled as he patted his son on the head.

“Tobio, you know we love you, right?” his mother said, placing a hand on her son’s shoulder. “You’re dad and I, even though we weren’t soulmates we still chose to get married and we chose to have you. But we know that we should have treated you better. We’ll make it up to you, I promise,” she said, placing a kiss on Tobio’s forehead.

“And I’ll make it up to you too,” he added. “This is a chance for us to start over, and we’ll be a much better family.”

“That I can agree to,” his father said, placing a hand on Tobio’s shoulder. “All of us together.” He pulled his wife and his son in for a hug.

“Yeah, a fresh start,” Tobio nodded. Their family wasn’t perfect, but they still had each other and that was more than enough for all of them. Tobio felt a smile grow on his face as he hugged his family and for the first time in a long time, their house didn’t seem cold and empty anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all folks! Thanks for reading!


End file.
